Teenager attempts to jump into lagoon over N6000

A 17-year-old boy has been rescued by operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), just as he was about to jump into the Third Mainland Lagoon, Lagos State.

The boy, a secondary school leaver, decided to take his life after losing N6000 to some street urchins on the Lagos Island.
He told the police that he couldn’t face his mother and tell her that he had lost such an amount.
 The teenager is second born of the four children and the first boy of his mother. The mother is a single parent. She said the kids’ father left her and travel overseas to marry another woman.
According to the police, the attention of RRS riders, who were on patrol of the Third Mainland Bridge, was drawn to the lonely teenager by a mechanic. The boy stood on the bridge, looking into the lagoon.
A policeman said: “On getting to the scene, the boy was standing on the crash barrier, ready to dive into Lagoon before he was held in the legs by the RRS officials and taken to RRS headquarters for counseling and further investigations.”
The teenager, after receiving counseling from the RRS Commander, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, (ACP) Olatunji Disu, explained that he decided to jump into the lagoon after losing N6000 and a mobile phone to some hoodlums in Lagos Island.
He explained that his mother gave him the N6000 around 4:00 p.m. to get food stuffs at Ita Faaji Market, but some miscreants collected his phone and the money. 
The boy said: “I felt depressed after losing the N6000 and phone to the five boys who waylaid me on my way to the market. I couldn’t summon courage to go back home to tell my mum that I lost the money she gave me to purchase food stuffs at Ita Faaji. I don’t know those guys and I have never seen them before.”
His mother, who is in her mid-50’s, said that she had been looking for him for hours and became worried when he was taking too long on the errand.
She said: “I have searched everywhere; his friends’ homes and the entire neighbourhood. I was shocked to learn that he attempted to jump into the lagoon. He just finished his secondary school. He went to Lagos City College. I don’t know why he wanted to commit suicide. He is athletic and doing just fine. His father has travelled overseas and re-married. We are doing fine and okay with our lives. If he had returned home to tell me what happened, the worst was for me to slap or threatened him to return my money for me. I know I have been an exceptional mother to the four of them. I have never allowed them to miss their father and they are doing quite well in their studies.”
The boy was released to his mother at the RRS Headquarters in Alausa. Mother and son were asked to report back next week.