Expdonaloaded News/ Lagos lagoon suicide: Doctor’s body found

The marine police of the Lagos State Police Command have recovered the body of Dr. Allwell Orji, who jumped into the Lagos Lagoon on Sunday. Revealing this yesterday, Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said the doctor’s body was discovered at about 4pm at the CMS side of the lagoon.
He said: “We immediately contacted the family. The family, including his sibling, Austin Orji, have identified the corpse. The driver, Henry Ita, has also identified the body as that of Orji. “The body is still intact. It is a corona thing. We are taking the body for forensic analysis. We must do the needful, we sympathise with the family, but we have to do what we must do. You know that autopsy must be done.” Earlier, Owoseni, at a press conference, stated that the mobile phone of Orji recovered from his car would be used for investigation into the matter. He said: “We are working with the service providers and using technical platforms to investigate who he (allegedly) called and what he discussed before taking the fatal dive. “I was personally at the scene of the incident and I was there when the vehicle was searched.The rumour that there was a suicide note in the car was wrong. There was no suicide note.” The police boss, who described Orji’s action as criminal, said the police would investigate the matter to a logical conclusion and would leave no stone unturned. “In this incident, the police are the leading agency investigating the matter. It is not as if the police are competing with any agency in this investigation. It is purely a criminal case and the police are vested with the power to investigate it. You can get authoritative information from the force. “The human error on Tuesday occurred because, as at the time the body was found under the bridge at Onikan, what went into the minds of the police officers, from the marine, was that Orji was the one, since there was no reported case of any other person jumping into the lagoon. The police concluded that the body was that of Orji until the driver said it was not Orji. The body and the clothes had been discoloured by water. We also want to do the sketching of the recovered body and show to the public so that any person who knows him should come and identify the body. “We were hopeful of recovering the doctor’s body because the maxim in such a case, traditionally and scientifically, is that after three days the body would float.” On Tuesday, a body was found at the Marina area of the lagoon, but Orji’s family said it was not their son. The late doctor’s driver had said his boss wore Chinos trousers and long sleeves before he took a dive into the lagoon, while the body of the man recovered was in black jeans and a T-shirt. This compelled Owoseni to order the marine police and other agencies to continue the search.