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.”