A 36 year-year-old man, identified as Obinna, has been found hanging from a cross beam of the roof of his workshop just in front of the palace of the traditional ruler of Amaifeke, Orlu local government area of Imo State, Eze Emma Okeke.
The man, said to be a wielder and a native of Umuagi in Ihioma community in Orlu LGA, was wearing a red shirt over a blue jean trousers attire and was found hanging on a braided long scarf, tied to one of the beams of his workshop’s roofing on Tuesday.
Motives for his action were yet to be ascertained as none of his close relatives could be reached for comment.
It was however, gathered that Obinna, said to be an only son of his parents, decided to take his own life when he lost a bet and was not able to pay the rent for his workshop, which had expired a long time ago.
The wife of his landlord, Sunday Obiaku, it was learnt, had demanded his rents on Monday and threatened to evict him if he defaulted.
The deceased was said to have promised to pay all his debts to the woman on Tuesday evening, with the hope that he would pay it with one of the betting tickets.
A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “The wife of the landlord of his workshop went to him on Monday morning to ask him why he was delaying the payment of the arrears which he had promised before without fulfilling it.
“But because he was expecting that his betting ticket, which had remained a game to earn him winning, will win, he decided to promise the woman that he would pay the money on Tuesday evening. I learned that the remaining ticket cut. What I don’t know is if it was the bet he lost that made him kill himself”, the villager said.
The traditional ruler of the community, Eze Okeke, was said to have contacted the police, who eventually took the corpse to the mortuary at St. Damian’s Hospital, Okporo in Orlu.
