Another tragedy was averted in Lagos on Friday as police rescued a woman who attempted to take her own life by taking a dive into the Lagos lagoon from the Third Mainland bridge.
The woman, identified as Taiwo Titilayo Momoh, tried jumping into the lagoon from the bridge.
Lagos State commissioner of police, Fatai Owoseni, stated that Momoh was going towards Oworonshoki when she asked the driver of the taxi to stop on the bridge.
The woman was about to jump into the lagoon when a police patrol team saw her and rushed to stop her from taking her life.
“She attempted suicide by attempting to jump into the Lagoon around Oworonshoki inward Mainland on Third Mainland Bridge. Unfortunately for her, she was rescued.
“The police patrol team sighted her and rushed to rescue her before she jumped into the Lagoon,” he said. The commissioner revealed that she was depressed as a result of the debt she has incurred from unpaid loans.
From his interaction with her, he said she insisted on taking her life again.
Owoseni stated that it was wrong for her to try to take her own life. It is also an offence under the law according to him. He said the police would try to talk the woman out of it.
The commissioner of police also said the subject would be made to go through post-trauma programme in order to drive the thought of committing suicide far from her mind. He also revealed that the police would do a medical evaluation on her in order to know the real state of her mind.
Owoseni further said it has become an offence for people to walk on bridges in Lagos State. He also said no vehicle would be allowed to stop on the bridges again in order to prevent such incidents. “Right now, the woman is still in trauma and she still insists that she wants to end her life,” he said.
Attempts by journalists to take the woman’s picture were rebuffed by the woman who told them that she was not a criminal.