(Oluseye Ojo, IBADAN)

A father of three children, Mr. Popoola Adepoju, 48, committed suicide in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Tuesday over reasons connected to means of livelihood and how to cater for his family.

The deceased, who was said to have retired from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN), reportedly hanged himself in his own house at No 17 Ayegbami Zone 7, Idi Ose along Akanran Road, Ona Ara Local Government Area.

His lifeless body of the late father of one boy and two girls was discovered on Tuesday evening from where it dangled from a rope tied to a ceiling fan in his bedroom.

Daily Sun gathered that Adepoju had on Tuesday morning sent his children out of the house on Tuesday evening before he hanged himself.

The wife, who was not at home at the time her husband hanged himself, and the children returned home later in the evening to discover that the breadwinner of the house had committed suicide.

The distraught wife reportedly told the police that visited the house on Wednesday morning that her husband was disengaged from work in Abeokuta two years ago, but had not been paid his entitlements. He was said to have ventured to sales of bags of cement.

The deceased reportedly left a three-sheet suicide note, which the bereaved family refused to surrender to the police but the General Chairman of Idi Ose community, Chief Taiwo Alimi.

When Alimi led the community members and the deceased’s relatives to the Akanran Police Division, he told the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Aliko Dankoli, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), that the bereaved family wanted to the police to release the corpse of of Adepoju to them for burial. Dankoli reportedly gave the directive that the family should go and bury the corpse as requested.

A landlord, who did not want his name in print, told journalists: “Mr Adepoju was a very courageous and inspiring man. He was always encouraging people to be persevering about the travails of life. That is why we are so confounded about what could have informed his action to commit suicide.

“He said on Monday that he wanted to sell his Honda car for N250,000 but that someone who wanted to buy it was offering N150,000. He said he wanted to sell the car so he could buy a small vehicle which he would be using as cab to serve as a sustaining means of livelihood for his family. He however said that the amount being offered was insufficient.

“He had a cement shop close by. He complained sometime that things were no longer as they were before he was disengaged from work. It was surprising when yesterday evening (Tuesday), we discovered that this unfortunate incident had happened.”

A middled-aged man, who preferred anonymity and claimed that he attended the same church – Foursquare Gospel Church, with the deceased said: “Adepoju was a devout Christian, pious and was talented. He was always offering tangible suggestions whenever the Welfare Committee of the zone met. What could have informed this action is astonishing to us.

“We were together at the early morning service at our church on Monday. We usually have such service on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of every month. When I saw him last on Monday evening after the evening service, he never gave the premonition that he was going to commit suicide. It was the last thing anybody around here could have imagined.”

The remains of Adepoju was later buried by his relatives, community and the church members within the premises of his house.