A commercial motorcyclist who doubles as the Secretary of LASKAB Oniyanrin Unit of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Sina Adebisi, 37, reportedly committed suicide yesterday in Ibadan.
The father of three lived in a one-room apartment at Oke Seeni of Oke Padre area of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
Although no one could confirm the reason for his action, his neighbours said they discovered that Adebisi had hanged himself when they woke up yesterday.
Scores of sympathisers stood in front of the deceased’s home, arguing whether the man committed suicide or was assassinated.
The suicide scene is a one-storey building with delicate wooden staircases. The deceased lived upstairs and the rope with which he allegedly hanged himself was tied to a window frame.
The soles of his two legs almost touched the ground as his body was found dangling.
The younger sister to the deceased, Mrs. Abiodun Afolabi, said Adebisi hailed from Obaagun area of Ikirun in Osun State, adding that the deceased was around 37 years.
She said: “I don’t even know what happened to him because he was not owing any debt. I still saw him yesterday (Monday) when he was working before I went to hawk. He was a motorcyclist, and he plied the routes close to where I live. People just suddenly called me this morning about what happened.
“He married two wives, but they are not staying with him again. The first one, who gave birth to his first child, is not with him; same with the second one. He stays alone. He would not fight anyone. He would wake up and go to work. He had three children and they are grown-ups. The first should be around 17 or 18 years. She’s a girl.
“His legs were almost touching the ground. The situation is surprising. Policemen will see it themselves and decide whether he looks like someone who hanged himself, because we don’t understand as well.”
The branch chairman of the NURTW at Okada Joint 8 on Ayeye-Ibikunle Road in Ibadan, Kabiru Akinwale (Kebe), said he was shocked at the news of Adebisi’s death.
He said: “He was a member of my unit; I’m the branch chairman. I was working in the morning when some people told me that one of my members had hanged himself. So, I removed my overall and cap and came here and found out it was true.
“The motorcycle he rode until his death was given to him on hire purchase. His ebenefactor has gone to see his relatives, but the person never disturbed him. He usually carried the person home and he lived close by. The person expected him yesterday (Monday) to take him home but did not see him. When Adebisi owed him money, the owner never complained.
“But he was a gentle person. We were in the same unit and we’ve been together for quite a while. He would not even disrespect people. He was easy-going. Nobody knows what made him to commit suicide.”
A co-tenant to deceased, Mrs. Musili Aliu, said: “I don’t know anything about what happened. This is because this man usually came back late at night and would go out early in the morning. If not that his colleagues came this (yesterday) morning, we would not have known anything.
“When his colleagues came, I even told them that he had gone out, since he usually went out early. I did not know what happened until they went inside and found his body. We live in this house together. He stayed upstairs and I stay downstairs. He lived in his room alone.”
