It was a very shocking news after the report of death of a domestic aide was reported in the government house of a northern state as the nation looks forward to a change of government in some states as inauguration holds today.
In this case, John Achagwa, who is a chef of Borno State Governor Kashim Shettima, yesterday committed suicide inside the Government House, Maiduguri.
According to Daily Trust, Achagwa was seen hanging lifeless on a tree inside the Government House. Some of his colleagues told journalists that he had maintained unusual quietness when he resumed for work on Monday. “He didn’t utter a word since morning. He just kept to himself. We were together till about 2pm until he suddenly disappeared,” one of them said.
Meanwhile, a response team was mobilised to the scene of the incident. Men of the State Fire Service and security personnel at the Government House were immediately mobilised to the scene to bring down the victim from the tree. His corpse has been since taken to the mortuary of the State Specialist Hospital Maiduguri.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Aliyu, said his command had begun investigation into the incident.
Governor Shettima has also reacted to the ugly incident that involved his one of his stewards.
In a statement by his spokesman, Isa Gusau, Shettima expressed shock, wondering what kind of depression could make John, “who was generally known to live comfortably,” resort to taking his own life.
“Governor Kashim Shettima is deeply shocked by the unfortunate incident especially given the fact that John who looked in mid 60s was publicly known to be one of the Governor’s favourites as he served important guests at the Presidential lodge for more than 30 years.”
It added, “When John retired from civil service, Governor Shettima had requested that he be retained as casual staff because of his good services and the confidence in him. The governor even supported John with personal funds with which he used in completing his beautiful house at a good location like Polo in Maiduguri. John also had a car to himself and he lived very comfortably. He was known to be friendly.”
“‘The governor has since directed the Commissioner of Police to ensure thorough investigation including carrying out a post mortem on his corpse and digging questions everywhere to establish what pushed him to take his own life,” Gusau said.
It is expected that more developments on the incident will be made known later as the police carry on with their investigation.
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