Oluseye Ojo, Ibadan
A 22-year-old commercial motorcycle rider, Ayuba Sarafa, has hanged himself in an uncompleted building beside his uncle’s house at Amuloko area of Olorunsogo in Ona Ara Local Government Area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
He was said to have gone out on Thursday morning with his motorcycle, but was not seen till his dead body was found on Friday morning where he had purportedly hanged himself.
Mother of the deceased, simply identified as Nike, was said to have wept uncontrollably, as she alleged that his son was wasted by some evil forces.
The deceased’s uncle, Kazeem Tijani, said: “The whereabouts of Ayuba was not known until Friday when his phone was being called to ascertain his state and the ringing tone was being heard close by. After intent listening, a woman traced the tone to the uncompleted building, where he was found hanging. The phone was in his pocket.
“Ayuba got the motorcycle on hire purchase basis and he was paying the instalments adequately. He was my brother’s son. He was not indebted to anyone and he was not starving at all. He was not married. He has been living with me for the past two to three years. He was working with me before he got Okada.
“He was initially a tailor and he was doing fine. We have searched his room but we could not find any note that he could have left, though we could not search his body. I have called our relations in Apomu.”
The Chairman of the Okada Riders Association at Amuloko where Ayuba was a member, Mr. Oluwatosin James, also said: “The news of Ayuba’s death came to us as a rude shock. It is this morning that we heard of the news at the Park. He was very reticent and would not fight anybody. Once he did his okada business in the morning, he would go and park and go to his uncle’s shop to assist him.
“Out of N390,000 that he got the Okada on instalment, it remained N77,000 . There was no issue of threat to him from the person who gave him the okada. In fact, the person is like a brother to him. So, we are confounded over this incident.”
