Family of doctor who jumped into lagoon chases away journalists and sympathizers

It has been alleged that the  family of late Dr. Orji Allwell Chiawolamoke, who jumped into the Lagoon on Sunday from the Third Mainland Bridge while on his way back from church, yesterday chased sympathisers and journalists away from their Abule-Ijesha home at Somolu area of Lagos State. This came as the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, established a Suicide Prevention Service Centre. About noon, Orji’s elder brother arrived and rushed into the apartment.

A few minutes later, he ordered all the sympathisers, journalists and church members to leave. Orji’s elder brother, who was visibly angry, marched everybody to the gate and thereafter shut it. He warned journalists, who besieged their house to leave as the death of their brother was a complex one. He said: “We don’t want to see
family members, journalists and neighbours. We are mourning our brother; we need privacy to sort out something. We didn’t invite journalists.”

This was confirmed by an emergency response team member, who craved anonymity. He said: “The last time I called the family, one of them reigned courses on me until I informed him that I was not a journalist but an emergency officer.”

It was observed that those who came to sympathise with Orji’s mother didn’t stay long before taking their leave. Once they stepped out, the gate would be slammed, to prevent people from entering. Efforts to get the burial plans proved abortive as none of the members was ready to comment on the issue. It was learnt that family members were angry with the way the media carried their tragic story.

A source said that Orji’s relatives were angry that what was seen as the most tragic incident in the family was blown out of proportion and celebrated by the media. Meanwhile, emergency responders told our correspondent that construction workers in a Japanese firm discovered the body floating on the water.

One of them, who claimed to have received a text message via the Lagos State Environment and Health Monitoring Unit (SEHMU), an agency responsible for picking up of bodies on the road or disaster victims, said the doctor’s body was found about 3:48 p.m. on Wednesday.

The source said: “Immediately the construction workers sighted the body, they informed their Japanese bosses who then tied it to one of the vessels to prevent it from floating to other area owing to tidal waves movement. That was when they alerted the Marine Police, SEHMU, Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other emergency responders.

“When they arrived, they moved the body to the Marine Police Headquarters at Awolowo Road, before the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, was informed. The family members were invited and they confirmed that the body was Orji’s.”

When the New Telegraph visited the hospital yesterday, there was no sign of a condolence register opened in honour of the doctor. Also, no photograph of Orji was hung inside or outside the hospital, to indicate the tragic loss. Rather, normal hospital operations went on as usual. Patients were in the patients’ waiting area.
  One after the other, they were ushered into the doctor’s office for consultation and treatment. The hospital environment was serene as normal day-to-day activities went on throughout the two hours that our correspondent spent there.