A director in the Kogi State civil service, Edward Soje, has committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree in Lokoja, the state capital. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the dangling body of Mr. Soje was found on a tree behind the mammy market at the Maigumeri barracks, the Nigeria Army Command Record in Lokoja, the state capital.
The 54-year-old civil servant is believed to have taken his life barely 10 days after his wife of 17 years gave birth to a set of male triplets in a private hospital in Abuja.
The couple had been childless before then. Mr. Soje, a Grade Level 16 Officer in the Kogi State Teaching Service Commission, was being owed 11 months’ salary arrears as at the time he took his life.
He hailed from Ogori town in Ogori-Magongo Local Government area of the state. He had before killing himself travelled to Abuja and left a suicide note for the wife who also works in one of the federal ministries.
“Psalm 121:3 God will not suffer your foot to be moved: He that keepeth you will not slumber. Amen. You and the three boys, the God Almighty will keep you and prosper you, amen. I love you,” according to the suicide note.
Confirming the incident, the state police command Public Relations Officer, William Aya, said the dangling body of Mr. Soje was found on a tree behind the barracks at about 5:55 p.m on October 16.
Mr. Aya said the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Area D Division received information about the incident from the military intelligence office in the barracks.
“Police moved to the scene, removed the corpse to the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja. Investigation is still ongoing,” Mr. Aya said.
The police spokesman said nothing was found on the man to help trace his address and family. However, a search party organised by his relations and friends, found his corpse at the morgue of the hospital on Friday, October 20.
Family sources said that Mr. Soje had before the incident been going through a lot of financial difficulties due to non-payment of his salary for 11 months by the Kogi State Government.
He was among thousands of civil servants being owed between two and 21 months’ salary arrears by the state government. As a way out, he was said to have sold his only car and a three-bedroom bungalow he was building at Otokiti area of Lokoja.
The building which was at lintel level was sold by Mr. Soje at a giveaway price of N1.5 million in April to meet urgent family needs, it was gathered. According to the sources, Mr. Soje’s financial woes became compounded when the wife gave birth to a set of triplets through Caesarian operation in a private hospital in Abuja on October 7.
The deceased remained in the hospital to look after his wife and children until October 13, a day before the naming ceremony when he decided to come back to Lokoja.
On getting to Lokoja, Mr. Soje went straight to his bank to collect the remaining N30,000 in his salary account with one of the commercial banks and thereafter informed the bank in writing about his decision to close the account.
He immediately left Lokoja for the hospital in Abuja where he rejoined his wife and handed over the N30,000 cash to her. On October 14, Mr. Soje and wife were joined by two pastors and few relatives to perform a brief naming ceremony for the triplets in the hospital.
He later left the hospital on the pretext that he wanted to pick few things from the wife’s apartment in Abuja with a promise to come back quickly.
But Mr. Soje did not return for hours and did not pick any of the many calls made to his telephone line, a development which forced the wife to send somebody to the house to go and ascertain what was happening to him.
The person, on getting to the apartment knocked the door several times but got no response and decided to call his telephone number. On hearing the telephone ringing out from the apartment, the person was said to have sought the assistance of neighbours to force the door open.
When the door was opened, the people were shocked when they saw Mr. Soje’s telephone handset placed on a suicide note on the centre table in the sitting room while he was nowhere to be found.
When his wife was informed, she quickly contacted some people to begin a search for him in Abuja while relations and friends in Lokoja were also informed of the development.
Efforts made to locate him did not yield fruit until relations decided to visit hospitals in Lokoja. The decision paid off eventually on Friday, October 20, when the corpse of Mr. Soje was found in the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.
A member of the family said the management of the hospital explained to them that Mr. Soje’s corpse was brought in by the police, who found it dangling on a tree.
A member of the family, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the late Mr. Soje as a “very quiet and lovable human being”. He said some members of the family had been sent to Abuja to break the news to the wife.
