51-Year-Old Man Jumps Into Well, Commits Suicide In Osun

• Residents Blame Osun Fire Service For Negligence

A 51-year-old man, Gbenga Ayeni, has committed suicide by jumping into a well, OSUN DEFENDER gathered.

Ayeni, a resident of the Powerline area, off Ijebu-Ijesa Road, Ilesa, Osun State, was said to have killed himself on Friday, March 1, 2024.

OSUN DEFENDER learnt that the deceased was a former worker at the International Breweries, Ilesa. 

He reportedly became a labourer after he was sacked by the company.

According to sources in the community, Ayeni left home for work in the early hours of last Friday and jumped into the well at the block site where he was working.

His footwear was reportedly sighted at the well by his wife who went to deliver his breakfast to him.

The woman raised the alarm when she didn’t see her husband, prompting the people nearby to check the well where they discovered her husband. 

But the father of three had died before he could be rescued. 

However, residents of the area have bemoaned Osun State Fire Service for what they described as negligence of duty.

The residents accused the fire service of poor service.

One of the residents, Mr. Wahab Akinrinade, who spoke with OSUN DEFENDER yesterday disclosed that the suicide mission by the deceased would have been aborted had the fire service quickly come to the scene.

Akinrinade said he first contacted the Fire Service station in Ilesa but was directed to the headquarters of the service in Osogbo.

He said: “It was a terrible incident last Friday. I made efforts to get the attention of the Osun State Fire Service in Ilesa to rescue the man, but they claimed their station was just a training centre. They directed me to their headquarters at Abere, but the state fire station asked me to call the Federal Fire Service because they didn’t have the required equipment to bring the man out.

“It was late before we could contact the federal fire service. It’s sad that the whole Fire Service does not have the necessary equipment to use in such an incident. 

“The state government should wake up and do the necessary things for the fire service to prevent future occurrences.

“Who knows if the man would still be alive by now if they quickly intervened? We later hired labourers to bring his corpse out of the well.”