A 28-year-old man has committed suicide in Mushin, Lagos, on the eve of his wedding. Shakiru, popularly called Jarule, was found hanging from the ceiling of his 56, Oduduwa Street, Mushin home.
Relatives told The Nation yesterday that the father of two was being expected in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Saturday for the event. Shakiru was said to have sent a suicide message to his sister, Mariam, which reads: “I’m sorry. Forgive me.”
Mariam had reportedly insisted on his arriving early for the event on noticing his attitude of late. But when the message came in around 6:30pm, she did not read it immediately. When she did, she tried to reach some of his friends, but all to no avail. She then got their elder sister who lives near him to go and find out what was happening. His sister found his room locked from inside indicating that he was at home.
But when he did not respond to her knocks, she called Mariam, who asked her to look through the window from where she found his lifeless body dangling from the ceiling.
Mariam said: “I called him several times to urge him to get to Osogbo on time but he told me he would arrive probably on Sunday or even Monday. I asked him what he meant by that when he knew the wedding was slated for Sunday. He quickly changed it and said he was on the way, that he would be there. I was expecting him till I got his message late at night. I called people close to his area but it didn’t go. Later I called my aunt to help me check him up. That was when she found out what happened. I had stopped calling him at a time because of his unresponsive attitude.”
The late Shakiru also left some notes in his jotter, bordering on love and his life trajectory. They included “I’m Done”, “If you are reading this, it’s too late.” He also wrote phrases such as “I love you” on the pictures of his two children.
Some relatives described his death as embarrassing and unfortunate. They said he was an introvert who hardly picked their calls. It was learnt that his wife is about eight months pregnant. He was said to have proposed an abortion which his doctor warned against because “it was too late.”
His niece, who didn’t mention her name, believes he committed suicide over financial difficulties.
According to her, he became frustrated after the death of his mother three years ago.
“I don’t know what he has encountered in life that should warrant suicide. Since his mother died, he has been finding it difficult to cope with life because she pampered him a lot and he didn’t lack anything. She always supported him out of love for her children. He didn’t acquire any skill that could sustain him. After her death, he was dejected. Sometimes he would complain of not eating regularly, his job was not paying much and that he was getting tired of life.
“But I don’t understand his problem because even his children are not under his care. It is the family that has been catering for them. This wedding we ought to be doing now is not on him. All we required was of him to make himself available. We even sent money to him when he complained he didn’t have money. The wife’s family has been complaining that he was not doing anything on her.”
Another relative said he didn’t believe the late Shakiru committed suicide because of financial constraints. The deceased, he said, just received N36,000 from a thrift society the previous week.
The Nation learnt that the police are detaining four persons living with the late Shakiru.
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