REVEALED: Doctor Who Jumped Into Lagos Lagoon Had Attempted Suicide On Many Occasions

Fresh fact has emerged that Dr. Alwell Orji, the medical practitioner who took his life last Sunday by jumping into the Lagos Lagoon, had attempted suicide a number of times.
Our correspondent, who visited his family home on Odunukan Street, Ebute-Ejigbo, off Morroco Road, near University of Lagos, was told that the young man had four years ago attempted jumping down from the family’s two-storey house. Only the intervention of neigbours staved off the disaster.
“Four years ago he attempted to kill himself and, thereafter, had tried doing so on a number of times,” a man who pleaded anonymity said, adding, “since then, his family had been monitoring him. We don’t know the kind of sickness he was suffering from, but we knew he was being monitored. That was why he was assigned a driver to take him around.
“He was such a gentle boy, who never made any trouble. His family has lived on this street for long; his father died four years ago.
“Perhaps the driver who drove him didn’t know about his condition because he was engaged about three months ago.”
Another neighbour said some concerned people had gone to the police pleading for the driver’s release as he was innocent and had no part in his former employer’s death.

Orji, 35, took his own life on Sunday afternoon by plunging from the Third Mainland Bridge straight into the murky waters of the deep-flowing Lagos Lagoon.
On Sunday evening he had allegedly asked the driver of his vehicle, a Nissan SUV with registration number LND476EE, to hand him the keys of the vehicle and drove it himself with his driver on the passenger’s side. Then he pulled over on the Third Mainland Bridge and plunged into the lagoon.
He did that allegedly while he was on his way back from church, heading somewhere on Victoria Island.

A mother’s hoped dashed

It was learned that the mother was still in shock and was still believing a miracle happen and the body of her son would be found.
The doctor’s mother, said to be a member of the Deeper Life Bible Church, was in her room despite the presence of her church members, who had come to console her.
According to some family members, she was holding on to her faith that her son was not dead; he was merely missing, given that he showed no signs of depression prior to the incident.
Sympathisers at their residence were her church members, who had come to condole with her, as well as the late doctor’s colleagues and neighbours.

During Mrs Orji’s conversation with sympathisers, she expressed optimism that her son would return home alive.

According to her, “I am hopeful that my son will be rescued by the emergency officials and not the recovery of his body.”

She also stated that his son was not married but that marriage plans were on before the tragedy.

Those allowed into the two-storey building on 3, Odunnuku Street, were members of the Deeper Life Church, where the distraught mother worships. Neighbours also visited to console her.

Driver detained

Meanwhile, the driver of the deceased has been detained by the police.

Worried by the continued detention of the driver, Mrs Orji urged Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, to release him, expressing fear that he could be tortured during investigation.

In a swift response to his detention, police sources hinted that he was only put behind the counter and not inside the cell.

Police sources also stated emphatically that the era of torture was over, especially with the present administration at the command.

Police also debunked claims of a suicide note purportedly written by the deceased, as well as report that late Orji received a call before he embarked on the suicide mission.

Police sources at Adeniji Adele hinted that the driver maintained that his boss told him to park for him to urinate.

According to the source, “the driver stated that he never had any idea of what would happen. He said he obeyed his boss by stopping the car as directed but that to his dismay, his boss jumped into the lagoon before he could reach out to him.”

When contacted, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Olarinde Famous-Cole, clarified that the driver was only taken in for questioning and not arrested. “It is normal as investigation is ongoing,” Famous-Cole added.

Dr. Orji was described as a dedicated person. He was the firstborn of his family. He was a thoroughbred doctor who paid profound attention to the very minute things in Medicine.

He was such a quiet person and at the same time very active.
“He was most preferred by our patients. In fact, when some patients came here and he had not arrived, they would wait for him. He was sure to get to the root of things by asking penetrating questions. That was his trademark and why he was so much loved.
“Last Friday, he was here and we all played with him. We jocularly asked him to go and eat but he said he was going to see his patients in the ward. But we literally forced him to do so,” she said.
Another staff who also spoke on the condition of anonymity, described the doctor as “an easy-going person. He was every lady’s man. Last Friday, when he was here, he showed no signs that he was going through any form of challenges.
“His mother is a director in one of the banks,” the staffer said, suggesting that he was not married, “she was always coming to check on him.”
“He was such a happy person and the favourite doctor among our patients. He would listen to his patients and spend long hours with them. Even after treating his patients, he always called on them to find out how they were doing. He had personal relationships with them.
“The vehicle he was actually riding in belonged to his mother. Oftentimes, the driver used to bring him to work and came to pick him. It was sad that he had to take his own life.”