Tobias Sylvester
A young woman identified as Miss Dinatu Gadi has reportedly committed suicide by setting herself on fire in ECWA staff community of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State.
A eyewitness, Mr John Fara, who is a neighbour of the deceased, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday that the woman in her mid 30s took her life on Thursday night.
According to him, the deceased bought a gallon of kerosene at about 8 p.m., sneaked to the back of their house, poured the whole content on her body and set herself alight.
He said: “I was outside the house when I saw a huge fire behind the compound and thought someone was burning trash.
“Then I heard someone scream once and said ‘I am dying’, and I quickly went behind to inquire what was going on and discovered someone was burning in the fire.
“Immediately, we brought water and poured it on her, but it was already too late, she was badly burnt all over, but she was still alive. Her family members quickly rushed her to hospital, where she was later confirmed dead.”
A family source said they did not have any suspicion that such tragedy would befall them.
“Dinatu was full of life during the day and she did not show any signs of sadness for us to suspect anything of such,” the family source said.
However, some other sources told NAN that the deceased, who returned to the country some years back after living abroad for some time, seemed to have suffered some kind of depression.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, ASP Ubah Ogaba, said he was not aware of the incident, but promised to investigate it.
“The incident has not yet been reported to us, but we will investigate it to ascertain the cause,” he said.
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