Man hangs self to death in Adamawa

The man hung himself inside an area referred to as forest, along Ganye International Cattle Market causing pandemonium.The man, yet to be identified, was said to have been found hanging by farmers who had gone to their farms as they sighted the corpse still dangling from the branch of a tree. Residents gave the name […]

The man hung himself inside an area referred to as forest, along Ganye International Cattle Market causing pandemonium.The man, yet to be identified, was said to have been found hanging by farmers who had gone to their farms as they sighted the corpse still dangling from the branch of a tree. Residents gave the name of the place as “forest.”

‘’It was some women farmers who were on their way to the farm who discovered the remains of the man. They were said to have quickly taken to their heels, raising alarm . From then on, people have been embroiled in what, perhaps, they knew nothing about,’’ Malam Salihu Sarkin Yakin Tola, told Sunday Trust.

The place, the location of which was said to have been relatively unknown to many residents, became a Mecca of sorts, while securitymen were said to have been promptly contacted over the matter. The man’s corpse was dressed in a jumper and pair of slippers as at the time he decided to end his life. He then  removed his slippers and put them on the ground.

First hand information from Ganye divisional police station, revealed that the police was alerted in the early hours hence officers, including civil defense corps, converged to ensure that the body was not tampered with and investigations commenced to analyze possible cause that might have led to the act.

Investigations carried out by the police revealed that the man, believed to be a stranger in the town, could be responsible for his own death which is suicide as there was no signs of strangulation, fighting, or struggle and none of his body part was missing. He was later evacuated to Ganye General Hospital for autopsy. He did not, however, leave a suicide note and the sum of N124 was found on him.

The spokesperson of the state police command, Alhira Altine Daniel, confirmed the incident to our correspondent on telephone, saying the body has been removed from the tree.

She said the police did not suspect foul play, adding that investigation was ongoing to determine why the man took his life.

Also speaking on the incident, Dr Ojoye Bode who carried out the autopsy said due to the tight rope applied vertically on his neck, the man’s vein became disjointed.

‘’Going by the examination carried out on the dead body, the man is clinically,’’ she confirmed. A source confided in the Sunday Trust that the man was sighted around the area in the night, but that when some of the residents accosted him and demanded to know his mission around the area, he was said to have replied that he was looking for a friend of his.

But why is it that suicide seems to be more frequent among the youths? Dr Bode explained that, “Suicide is more  common in adolescents and adults. In the case of the young man who hung himself for failing his exams, the issues are not far-fetched. Why would an adolescent want to commit suicide? An adolescent is someone going through a lot of psychological crises – coming from the dependent age to assume independence.

‘’He has left an age where he had no goals set to one where he sets goals and tries to acquire skills to actualize those goals. They have not attained that level of complete independence, complete confidence in the inner self, that if such system or such arrangement as programmed by him gets distorted, the support system is too weak to contain the attendant psychological trauma that follows. And you find out that they have very little social support at that point. They then come down with a lot of psychiatric and psychological disorders – stress, depression or even serious mental illness. These conditions can actually programme them for eventual suicide,’’ she said.