Ebun Francis| The Lagos police command on Sunday said its operatives deployed to the Third Mainland Bridge intercepted a man who wanted to jump into the lagoon over a N500,000 debt.
The father of two children, Adeyinka Abiodun who resides in the Ikotun area of Lagos State had embarked on a mission to take his own life by jumping into the lagoon but failed in the bid as he was promptly intercepted by police operatives.
The Lagos state Police Public Relations Officer in Lagos, Bala Elkana, who confirmed the incident in a statement, said Abiodun’s attempt to take his own life attempt was thwarted by the security operatives at about 1:50pm on Friday.
He was subsequently taken to the Police Station in Bariga for questioning and debriefing, where he revealed how he procured a loan of N390,000 in March with monthly repayment plan for six months and accrued interest of N142,287:25 from a microfinance bank in Lagos Island.
The statement stated that on further interogation, Abiodun who holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics & Business administration and Master’s degree in Business Administration, explained he collected the loan with intent to upgrade his wine retail business, but lost the money when the business failed.
The microfinance bank when contacted by the police, confirmed the said loan was collected by Abiodun.
According to the statement, the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has come to the rescue of Abiodun by repaying the loan when he got to know about the matter.
Elkana who noted that the latest incident was the eighth suicide attempt successfully foiled by the police in Lagos in the last two months, said the Commissioner of Police in Lagos, Hakeem Odumosu, has urged residents to always explore other means of addressing life challenges than resorting to committing suicide.
“Together we can stop suicide,” the commissioner said.
Leave a Reply