Relatives of a 22-year-old security guard on Baale Street, Igbo Efon, Ilasan, in the Ajah area of Lagos State have said that they are in the dark about the circumstances surrounding his alleged suicide.
The guard, Moses Noah, reportedly plugged a pair of wires in his room’s socket; tied the two other ends to his hand and neck and switched on the socket.
It was gathered that no suicide note was found in the room, which he shared with a cousin named Gideon.
Noah, who doubled as a cleaner in the compound he guarded, was described as a quiet person.
City Round learnt that the incident happened around 9am when Gideon, went to buy food on the street. He was said to have met the door locked from inside when he returned home.
Our correspondent learnt that Gideon forced the door open after calling Noah several times without getting any response. He reportedly met Noah dead.
The incident was said to have been reported to policemen at the Ilasan Police Station, who removed the corpse.
A relative of the deceased, who gave his name only as Amos, said he had visited Noah six days before the incident.
Amos explained that Noah told him he wished to travel to his hometown in Kaduna for Christmas, but that he did not have money.
Amos, who said he brought Noah to Lagos from Kaduna in July, told our correspondent that he advised the guard to wait till April 2019 and he agreed to do so.
He said, “I was the one who brought him to Lagos in January. I took him to my elder brother in Igbo Efan because where I lived could not accommodate both of us. He and my brother, Gideon, worked as cleaners and guards in the same compound and they lived in the same apartment in that house. He was paid N30,000 monthly.
“I usually called him. On Friday, November 16, when I visited him, he said he wanted to travel home for Christmas, but did not have money. I advised him to postpone it till April next year and that he would have had enough money by then. That was our last discussion.
“On Wednesday, November 22, Gideon called me and said Noah killed himself. I was shocked. According to my brother, they were both working that morning when he (Gideon) went on the street to buy food. He said he left money at home and returned to the room to get it. On getting to their room, he met the door locked.
“He knocked on the door but Noah did not answer. He then forced his way in and discovered that he was dead with a pair of electric cables on him. He plugged the cables in a socket. He wrapped one around his left hand and the other one around his neck. He was not married. I do not know why he would kill himself and my brother said he did not tell him anything prior to the incident. The only thing I know is that he was a quiet person.”
Amos said Noah’s corpse had been buried in Kaduna, adding that he was the first child of his parents.
He said there was no pressure on the 22-year-old from his mother or siblings even though their father was dead.
“Everybody was shocked. I checked his phone, but I could not find any strange information there and he did not drop any note before the incident,” Amos added.
Efforts to reach Gideon proved abortive as his line indicated that it was not reachable. Amos, who had returned to Lagos, said he (Gideon) was still in the village, adding that the network was bad there.
In a related development, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, attached to the Ojodu-Abiodun Police Station, Ogun State, Eneje Festus, has been confirmed dead after he was electrocuted in the course of fixing a pumping machine in his house on Obada Estate, Morogbo, Lagos State.
It was gathered that he had burns on his hand, chest and cheek and died on the spot before he could get help.
His body was said to have been deposited at the Badagry General Hospital while the incident was reported at the Morogbo Police Division.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Chike Oti, who confirmed the two cases to our correspondent, said the command had commenced investigations.
He said, “The police got a report that one Moses Noah got electrocuted at his residence on Baale Street, Igbo-Efon. Detectives visited and photographed the scene while the corpse was evacuated.
“On November at about 9.45pm, the station received a report that a police officer serving in Ogun State Police Command allegedly got electrocuted while fixing the pumping machine in his compound. The scene was visited and photographed by detectives. On close examination, burns were seen on the hand, chest and cheek of the deceased. Investigation is in progress.”