52-year-old man drinks poison, commits suicide in Lagos

A lifeless body of a 52-year-old man on Monday was reportedly found by the riverside by residents of Salvation Avenue in the Ajegunle, Ikorodu area of Lagos State.

Punch reports that the deceased, identified as Bolaji Waheed, was found around 1.30pm at the bank of the Itowolo River with a bottle containing a substance suspected to be poison.

This was after Waheed was declared missing on Saturday when his family members could not find him.

The case was later reported at the Owode Police Division, and the corpse was taken to a morgue.

A resident, who pleaded anonymity narrated the incident, saying a pastor in the area saw the corpse by the riverside and alerted the others.

She said, “Pastor Ajiboye, who has a church in our area, was the one who reported the matter at the police station.

“The deceased had been missing for two days. He left home on Saturday and failed to return, which caused apprehension in his household. His family members searched the whole area to no avail.

“The man did not leave any note behind. So, the family members thought he was picked up by unknown persons and they reported to the police.

“But we were shocked that it turned out that the man committed suicide as he was found at the bank of the river on Monday. He was foaming in the mouth.”

The Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident.

“We are investigating a case of suicide as the man was found with a substance suspected to be poison. Investigation is ongoing,” she added.

Family escapes death as neighbour spices soup with ‘otapiapia’

A family of three, yesterday, narrowly escaped death after a neighbour spiced their pot of soup with insecticide in Lagos.

Daily Sun reports that a woman, whho was cooking soup in Baale Aiyetoro Street, Ajegunle area of Apapa and had gone to buy salt, but when she returned, she discovered that the soup aroma had changed to offensive odour of insecticide, otherwise known as otapiapia.

The woman who was suspicious quickly notified her landlady.

The landlady was said to have arrested the only co-tenant on the premises and took him to the traditional ruler of the area, who handed him over to the police.

It was gathered that the suspect, Gordon Daniel, during interrogation, confessed to the crime.

Daniel told the police that, “the devil pushed me to do it. I doused the soup with sniper insecticide so as to deal with the family. The husband insulted me last time because of electricity bill. He called me a poor man; the devil pushed me to do it. I am sorry.”

The case has been transferred to the state Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, Lagos.