Ijebu artisan hangs self over N750,000 debt

IJEBU-ODE—A 42-year-old artisan was reported to have committed suicide on Monday night in Erigo, a suburb of Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State, over a N750,000 debt.

According to reports, the self-employed artisan and father of two, hanged himself in his residence  when his wife and children were out of the house.

It was also gathered that the artisan’s earlier attempts to kill himself were aborted because people  intervened.
During a visit at the late artisan’s residence in Odutola Ogunleye Street in Erigo, hundreds of sympathisers were seen discussing the tragedy.

The artisan was said to have taken the loan from a new generation bank in Ijebu-Ode, where his wife worked  before her sack.

It was also learnt that it was the shame of his inability to repay the loan, which he used to complete his house, that moved him to commit suicide.

His relative, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the artisan, who was a glass cutter, left home with his family on Monday morning to his shop.

The late craftsman was said to have later returned to take his life. The relative explained that it was when the wife returned home from her shop in the night that she found the body of her husband dangling from the rope.

He said: ‘’It was a terrible and unfortunate experience. He went to drop his wife and his two children in her shop with a promise to come and pick them later.

‘’He also went to his shop at Degun in Ijebu-Ode, but later came back home in the evening to hang himself. It was when the wife returned from her shop that she found the deceased body hanged, which made her to alert the people. ‘’

Some sympathisers, who expressed surprise at the artisan’s death, described him as an easy- going person who would not contemplate taking his life.

As at press time, the body was still hanging on the rope. It was learnt that a ritual needed to be performed before the body could be released for burial.

A police officer at Atan Police Divisional Headquarters in Ijebu-North-East Local Government Area, who declined to be mentioned, said the police had been informed about the incident.

The officer said investigations had commenced on the matter.