*Posers over top civil servant’s death

By Samuel Oyadongha

Yenagoa-‘WHAT could have  made him take his   own life? No, it cannot be true, I saw him only yesterday looking healthy; if this is a joke, stop it for it is too expensive”, wailed a close associate of the deceased acting permanent secretary of the Bayelsa State Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Abraham Torudigigha Izulu, when news of his death filtered into the state secretariat penultimate Friday. It is still not clear what could have caused the death of this father of two described as a complete gentleman by his colleagues while others nicknamed him pastor because of his meek and honesty disposition.

The deceased from Nembe in the Nembe local government area of the state was found dead in his Road Safety Road apartment in the early hours of Friday, September 11. Though the official cause of death has not been determined yet, reports had it that he took his own life. He was in his late forties. When news of his death filtered into the old state secretariat complex where he last served, some of his colleagues were shell shocked. Governmental activities were paralyzed as the entire secretariat was thrown into mourning.

Governor Timipreye Sylva of Bayelsa State

One of his colleagues in the office described him as a very humble man who was full of respect and never hurt the feeling of others irrespective of their position. “It is a pity his death is shrouded in mystery. I have worked with people but I’m yet to see somebody like the deceased who is always ready to listen and assist whenever he comes across any officer in need. As you can see we are all sad about his death. It is my prayer that God will give his family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss,” lamented a junior civil servant who simply gave his name as John.”

However, more than one week after his tragic event, mystery and controversy has continued to trail the demise of the top civil servant whose family members and close associates are yet to recover from the shock. The wife could not be reached to comment on the incident but sources told Sunday Vanguard that the ever cheerful Izulu was never sick or diagnosed of any ailment before his sudden death.

A family member, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the deceased was believed to have taken his own life in his bedroom on that fateful day. “The way the incident happened is so bad that we (family members) have been barred from talking to people about it, because he is believed to have committed the act himself,” the source said.

Asked whether he was having problems with some persons, the source said Izulu was going through some undisclosed “family trauma.” Izulu, until his death was a director in the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and was acting for the permanent secretary in the ministry who was on leave. A source at the ministry told Sunday Vanguard that they got to know about the sad demise of their colleague when he failed to report for work on the fateful day. The commissioner who needed his assistance in the office was said to have sent one of his aides to get the acting permanent secretary only to discover that he was absent.

Since the Izulus residence is located some distance away from his place of work, the aide it was learnt, raced to his abode only to meet relations and friends of the deceased who had earlier besieged his modest apartment on hearing the sad news. It was a sorrowful atmosphere, the source said, as most of the sympathizers present struggled to hold back tears while others were inconsolable. A source said Izulu relocated from his bedroom to his study in the midnight where he allegedly committed suicide without the knowledge of his family, a claim which could not be confirmed and still shrouded in mystery.

It was gathered that when his family wanted to observe their daily devotion, his wife called on him, without any response. Thinking the head of the family would join them later, she was said to have continued with the children not knowing the worst had happened. Troubled by the continued absence of her husband at the devotion, said to have lasted for about 25 minutes, Mrs. Izulu was said to have again called him without any response before she decided to force her way into his study, where she met his lifeless body.

She immediately ran out of the room and raised alarm which attracted family members and other sympathizers that thronged their residence. The body of the deceased has since been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, Yenagoa, morgue. Izulu whose father, Bishop Cornelius T. Izulu of the Anglican Church, died last year is married to one wife and had two sons.