There was confusion at Ekiti State Secretariat on Wednesday morning as a civil servant identified as Abolarinwa Olaoye, allegedly hanged himself under suspicious circumstances. The body of the 49-year-old night guard at the State Scholarship Board was found hanging at the staircase behind the office.
He was said to have reported on Tuesday evening for an overnight duty but it remained unclear when the act was committed. Olaoye’s body was suspended with a clothing material tied to the railing of the staircase. The Boxer MB 100 brand motorcycle with registration number ADK 210 WS, brought by the deceased to the office was parked within the building where the suicide took place. The development triggered panic at the Secretariat as fellow civil servants trooped out from their offices to catch a glimpse of the incident.
According to Mrs Elizabeth Babalola, an in-law and confidant, Olaoye, a native of Igogo Ekiti, Moba Local Government area of the State, came to her around 4.30 pm on Tuesday and lamented the acute financial problems he had been encountering of recent.
She said: “He came to me around 4.30pm on Tuesday and started lamenting that his house rent had due and that he could not pay due to irregular salary payment. He also complained about inability to meet other financial commitments to his wife’s family.
He told me he could go ahead and do some nasty things. He told me clearly that he was tired of life. I tried to persuade him not to resort to anything nasty. I told him life is full of ups and downs and that he should just endure, but I never knew he would end this way” she said.
The Executive Secretary of the Ekiti State Scholarship Board, Mr. Ayo Ajimati, confirmed that the deceased was a staff of the board before his death.