It was a tragic day to the family of a middle-aged man (name not immediately known) who set himself ablaze in the Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State just one day to the New Year.
The suicide took around 8.30am at the Garden of Forgiveness, opposite Our Lady of Apostle Hospital in Jos.
A witness, Phillip Gyang, said the victim, identified as a tricycle rider, entered the garden and poured petrol on himself before setting himself on fire.
“It is really strange and I don’t know the reason he did that,” he added.
Another witness, Ruth, whose shop was close to the garden, said the man parked his tricycle by the roadside before taking his life.
Ruth said: “He surveyed the garden and the environment to ensure that no one was watching. He went straight to his tricycle to carry fuel, soaked himself with petroleum and set himself ablaze.
“It was at that point that I raised the alarm and other people doing business within the vicinity dashed to the garden to rescue him. But before they could put the fire out, it had done enough damage to him. The man later died. Some policemen who arrived at the scene took his remains away.”
Sources said the deceased attempted to take his life two days earlier, as he complained that he could no longer bear the suffering he was going through.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Gabriel Ubah, said the matter had not been reported to him.
The Chairman of the Tricycle Riders Association in Jos North LGA, Hassan Dahiru, said he would make inquiries about it.
