The outgoing Governor of Borno, Kashim Shettima, has expressed shock over the death of a government house steward, Mr John Achagwa, who committed suicide on Tuesday.
Achagwa, a steward at the Presidential lodge of the Government House, Maiduguri, took his life by hanging himself on a tree.
His body was found hanging on a tree at a garden of the Presidential Lodge at about 2:30 p.m.
A statement issued by Mr Isa Gusau, Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy, said Shettima was shocked by the unfortunate incident.
“Shettima is deeply shock by the unfortunate incident, given the fact that the deceased known to be one of the Governor’s favourites, as he served important guests at the Presidential lodge for more than 30 years.
“When he retired from civil service; Shettima had requested him to be retained as casual staff because of his good service and the confidence repose in him.
“The outgoing governor supported the deceased with personal funds which he used in completing his house at Polo in Maiduguri.
“John also had a car to himself and he lived very comfortably. He was known to be friendly,” the statement said.
According to him, the outgoing governor has directed the Commissioner of Police to ensure thorough investigation including a post mortem and inquiries to establish the reason for the suicide.
Speaking on the development, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Mr Mohammed Aliyu, who visited the scene of the crime at the Government House, Maiduguri said the police would thoroughly investigate the matter.
Aliyu disclosed that the cause of the incident was not clear, adding that men of the command dispatched to the scene of crime brought down the corpse and evacuated it to the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri.
He identified the deceased as a retired staff of the Government House, who was later reengaged as contract personnel.
“From the preliminary report, it is difficult to preempt what exactly happened.
“This is somebody who is doing fine, he has a house and a vehicle which he usually drives himself to work everyday.
“We are going to reach out to his family in order to trace the root of the problem as investigation is still ongoing.”
