….Recovered body not my son—Mother

By Evelyn Usman & Monsuru Olowoopejo

LAGOS—Henry Ita, the driver of the medical doctor reported to have jumped into the lagoon on the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos, Sunday, has revealed that his boss, Allwell Orji, left his Abule-Ijesha home during a family prayer session that fateful day.

This is just as controversy, yesterday, trailed news of the recovery of the doctor’s body, following the family’s rejection of a recovered body.

Ita, in his statement to police, said that his boss beckoned on him to take him out in the middle of a prayer session between his mother, Mrs Chinyere Orji and a pastor.

According to him, “he had been home all day. He was casually dressed in trousers and long sleeve shirt when he called me to take him out. He sat in front but did not speak to me or anyone on the phone until we got to a point on the Third Mainland Bridge.

“He ordered me to park, saying he wanted to urinate. He alighted from the car and immediately climbed the rail. Before I could alight from the car, he had jumped into the lagoon.”

Police Commissioner speaks

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Fatai Owoseni, while speaking on a television programme, Sunrise Daily, yesterday, revealed that during a conversation with the doctor’s mother, “she said she discovered that the doctor had left the house and concluded he could have gone to cut his hair.

“She said while thinking of checking on him later at the barber’s, she received a call that her son had jumped into lagoon.

“It is not true that he left a suicide note. We are still looking at other options in our investigations. I have personally interacted with the driver, who called the mother to alert her of the tragedy.

“But it will not be right to throw certain questions at members of the family for now.”

…recovered body

Meanwhile, policemen from the Marine Department of the Force, officials of Lagos Ferry Services, Lagos Waterways Agency patrol boats and local fishermen had been combing the waters since Sunday without success.

However, yesterday, the search teams, as gathered, received a call that a bloated body was discovered around the Onikan end of the lagoon at about 10a.m., and they called their respective bosses informing them that the body was that of the 2008 graduate.

The body was, thereafter, taken to the Marine Police headquarters, from where Orji’s family was contacted.

Five members of the family, including the medical doctor’s mother, got to the office at about 1p.m.

The checks on the body were done in the presence of the General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, Tiamiyu Adeshina, the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State Police Command, Fatai Owoseni, and other senior police officers from the command and Marine Police.

However, the family members informed that the body was not that of their son, saying their son was taller than the body recovered.

They also noted that his driver, Henry Ita, had said their son wore a pair of Chinos trousers and a long sleeve shirt. But the recovered body had on jeans and a short sleeve T-shirt.

One of the local divers, who joined in the search, disclosed that the recovered body could have been in the water for five days, owing to the extent of its bloated state.

The search for the medical doctor’s body, according to Adeshina, would continue.

In 48 hours…

Apparently relying on nature, police has disclosed that the body of the doctor would be afloat 48 hours after the incident, adding that the search and rescue team would intensify their work until the body is recovered.

Dr. Orji’s classmate’s testimony

One of Dr Orji’s classmates in medical school, who pleaded anonymity, told Vanguard, yesterday, that he had attempted suicide about five years ago.

According to him, “he had been trying to specialise without success for a while. He took a course in surgery and failed, then paediatrics. The last one was when he sat for the final exams in Family Medicine, which he also failed.

“The results of the exams were released last Tuesday, but because he was not on the class’ WhatsApp group, he could not get the information on time. Someone informed him about the development on Saturday, but he only confirmed it that Sunday.

“He does not have a friend in the class and was a recluse of sort. During the final exams, he even fell ill and convulsed in class.”