Mother of medical doctor who committed suicide refuses to believe her son is dead

It was just on Sunday, March 20, 2017 that a man who was a medical doctor allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the Lagoon from the Third mainland bridge, Chinyere Orji who is the mother of 35-year-old medical doctor, Allwell Orji, has refused to admit that her son is dead.

A family member of the late Allwel Orji, who addressed the journalist at the family's home at Abule-Ijesha in Yaba of Lagos state, yesterday, March 20, said Mrs. Orji who is a retired banker, has refused to accept that Allwell, who is the first of her three children, is dead. She is still believe he would be rescued alive.

He said: "You people don’t know what we have been through since yesterday. Please, respect our grief. This is not a case of a grandfather that died and we want to celebrate it.

“This whole issue has been difficult for us. The mother is up there, not talking to anyone. Not even us who are very close relatives.

“People have been around her since yesterday so that she doesn’t do anything drastic. She has yet to accept that he could be dead. She doesn’t even accept people’s sympathies and condolences.

“As a Christian, she’s believing God that a miracle could happen and that her son won’t die. She believes he’s just missing and would return alive.”

In the meantime, all efforts to recover his body from the lagoon yesterday proved futile as operatives of the Lagos State Emergency Mangement Authority (LASEMA) are still combing the lagoon for his remain.

The General Manager of LASEMA, Adesina Tiamiyu who was at the scene yesterday afternoon, told reporters that he was not aware of any suicide note said to have been dropped by the deceased.

Tiamiyu said: “We are still searching for the body. We have expanded the search to go further than the point it happened. We have told local men around to watch out for any floating body and we have engaged local divers to look around for us.

“Patrol boats are in the water going round. We would continue to search for him. The family is traumatised at this point and unwilling to speak on the issue. I want us to respect their wishes please.

“We have established contact with the family and expressed government’s sincere wishes to them. We would also go back at a time they feel better because we would like to know what happen so that Lagosians and Nigerians can learn a lesson or two from it.

“It’s an unfortunate situation. But what do we do? The driver is with the police. The police would be more involved in the investigation.

“If we are able to pick one or two things, we would pass it across. I am not aware of any suicide note. His phone and car are with the police.”