By Joyce Babayeju
An unidentified middle-aged man was, in the early hours of Wednesday, found hanging from a tree in an apparent suicide, on 1st Avenue, Festac, Amuwo Odofin area of Lagos, opposite a popular hotel, where commercial sex workers hang out.
The remains of the victim, who had become bloated with liquid substance dripping from it, was still hanging from a rope tied to a mango tree on Thursday morning till about 10am, when it was later evacuated by the authorities.
When Vanguard visited the scene of the suspected suicide, people were in groups chatting and wondering what could have pushed the man to hang himself.
A POS operator in the area said the body had been hanging there since Wednesday morning.
“The local government officials and the police didn’t consider the well being of residents in the area. That is why they abandoned the corpse for two days.
“When I came to my stand yesterday, I met many people at the scene with the man dangling from the tree.
“But no one could confirm the actual time of death and nobody could remove the noose from the man’s neck for fear of the police.
“When I came today he was still hanging from the tree and his body had become swollen.”
After the police recovered the corpse and took it to a mortuary, some residents were seen removing some logs of dried woods underneath the mango tree.
Contacted, the spokesperson of Lagos State Police Command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, said he would get back with a reaction.
At the time of filing this report, he was yet to do so.