Five days after a 50-year-old man, Mr. Joseph Oranusi, was reported missing by his family, he has been found dead and abandoned in front of a shop on Capitol Road, Agege, Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt that Oranusi, who
hailed from Idemili, Anambra State, was working as a security guard at a complex
within the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
Our correspondent also learnt that the deceased,
who lived with his family at Olusanya Street, Isokoko, Agege, was initially
reported missing at the Isokoko Police Division on Thursday, October 24 ─ the
day he failed to return home from his workplace.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the family,
apart from reporting to the police, also went to Oranusi’s workplace, and made
an announcement on the broadcast media as they searched for their missing
father.
When the family got to Oranusi’s workplace, they
were reportedly told that he signed out from office by 7.15am on the fateful
Thursday.
However, five days later, it was learnt that some
policemen on patrol from the Dopemu division discovered Oranusi’s corpse in
front of an abandoned shop on Capitol Road, Agege.
Some neighbours, who declined to give their
names, told our correspondent that Oranusi was believed to have slumped and died
at the location while on his way back home.
A police source added that Oranusi might have
survived if help had come his way from pedestrians or residents when he
slumped.
Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday,
the wife of the deceased, Hope Oranusi, said her greatest pain was that her
husband was taken away to a morgue in Yaba, while the family was not contacted
even though the police found an identity card on him.
She added that the ID card should have prompted
the police to trace his workplace and family.
She said, “We had looked everywhere for him since
the day of the incident. He had left for work on the night of Wednesday and had
not returned in the morning as usual. He had hypertension and he used to take
some drugs to alleviate the effects.
“It was five days later that a church member
called me that someone heard that an abandoned corpse was found in front of a
shop on Capitol Road.
“They did not allow me to see it, but when his
younger brother went, it turned out to be my husband.
“My shock was that we learnt the police took the
body to a morgue for a mass burial. I was very sad. How could a man returning
from work and found with an ID card be taken to a morgue for a mass burial
without his family or workplace being contacted? However, they have rescinded
the decision.”
Hope, who has three kids and teaches in a private
secondary school, added that she believed that although people might have failed
to come to her husband’s rescue, he died a natural death.
“He died a natural death. His body was found
intact. So, I don’t think anyone was responsible,” she said.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer,
DSP Kenneth Nwosu, while confirming the incident, said the police had released
the corpse to the family for burial.
He said, “The police recovered his corpse. His
case was recorded as Sudden and Unnatural Death. The police took the body to a
morgue where an autopsy should have been conducted to ascertain the cause of
death. But on the family’s request, his body has now been released for burial.”http://www.punchng.com/metro-plus/family-finds-missing-dad-abandoned-by-roadside-dead/
No comments:
Post a Comment