What could have gone amiss with a promising young man, who has suddenly become obsessed with ending his own life for no clear reason? He has persisted in seeking different dangerous means to kill himself, and so has become restless in achieving this ‘self-immolation.’
This is the dangerous situation 24-year-old Michael Oko has found himself since he returned from his Opoga, Benue State, hometown, where he was said to have allegedly committed a sacrilege by pulling down an age-long shrine.
The boy wanted to commit suicide. He was on the roof from 6pm into the midnight before four men brought him down. Before this incident four weeks ago, he climbed an MTN mast at Idimu and wanted to jump off it
Oko, who lives with his elder sister, Mrs. Alice Ezeamaka, at number 30, Ojo Street, Oguntade, Shasha Akowonjo, in the Alimosho area of Lagos State, had previously attempted to commit suicide at Idimu, where he was said to have climbed an MTN mast at about 7:30pm and remained on it till 10am the following day, when he was persuaded to come down, but was immediately arrested by policemen from the Idimu
Division.
Barely four weeks after this first incident, Oko was again seized by the strange ‘spirit’ driving him towards suicide, as he went up the roof of a two-storey building situated beside his residence on Ojo Street, and attempted to jump from the top of the roof to
the ground.
It was gathered that Oko, who climbed up the roof at about 6pm, rebuffed all persuasions from neighbours to come down in order not to hurt or get himself
killed.
After several attempts by neighbours to get Oko to see why he should not take the fatal jump failed, two residents, Mr. Allen Adeneye, and Mr. David Oladele, of No. 34 Ojo Street, notified the Shasha Police Division of the strange happening.
The Divisional Police Officer led a patrol team to the scene at about 6:30pm, but was unable to pacify Oko to come back to his senses and see the danger in what he was about to do.
The DPO then contacted the Area Commander, Area M, for reinforcement. The team was led by ACP Austin
Okika.
However, at about 12 midnight, efforts by both the policemen and the residents to dissuade Oko from taking his own life paid off as four men summoned the courage and went up the roof to bring him down in a rather dramatic move.
A resident, David Oladele, said, “The boy wanted to commit suicide. He was on the roof from 6pm into the midnight before four men brought him down. Before this incident four weeks ago, he climbed an MTN mast at Idimu and wanted to jump off it.
“The boy is mentally sick. Though I have never seen him before until now, we heard these things started when he returned from his village in May. We learnt he destroyed a particular shrine and that’s why he’s being troubled.”
Also speaking, a female resident, who identified herself as wife to one Mr. Friday, said, “Michael was not behaving like that until when he went to the village last year and returned in May. We heard he took ‘holy water’ from the Synagogue Church and used it to destroy a shrine. I suggest he should be taken to T.B. Joshua for
healing.
“He was here with us throughout yesterday till 11pm that we closed the shop. Their landlady doesn’t want him in the house. He won’t eat nor talk, and Michael wasn’t like that
before.”
Oko’s sister with whom he lives, said, “I’ve had enough of Michael’s problems. He wants to kill me. My husband is not around; because of him, the landlady has given us a quit notice.”
When asked how Oko’s problem started, the expectant mother-of-four said, “Michael has been with me since. In 2014, when he went to the beach at VI, he almost got drowned. Since then, he has been acting abnormally. I have called our elder siblings, but none of them showed concern. All they are saying is Michael is fine; there is nothing wrong with him.”
Our correspondent, however, learnt that a few days before his last suicide attempt, Oko had thrown refuse and some clothing materials inside the well in his residence, a development that prompted the landlady to bar him from entering the compound.
The landlady, simply identified as Alhaja, said, “I barred him from entering the house.
“I don’t want him to harm anybody at home, especially the children. Up till now, we have not removed the things he threw in the well. I have asked his sister to pack out of my house.”
When contacted, Lagos Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Chike Oti, confirmed the incident, noting that Oko was arrested after the suicidal attempt.
“He was later released by the DPO, who observed that he was mentally unstable,” Oti said.
He stressed that the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Edgal Imohimi, had directed officers to be on the lookout for suicidal attempts and arrest any individual involved for prosecution.
