Man, 21, jumps into Lagos lagoon, leaves message for child

A 21- year old man, Odunare Olalekan, took his life by diving into the lagoon in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State, on Tuesday.

In a viral video, Olalekan, who was seen sitting on the handrail of a bridge, suddenly jumped into the water around Berger Bridge, Epe.

Sources told Daily Trust that Olalekan, who left a one-year-old baby behind, actually gave a clue of the mission he was embarking on when he left the house on the fateful day.

He was said to have told his father to pray for him.

“He also told his girlfriend who is 19-year old to take care of his baby. Thereafter, he left to the bridge side to commit suicide, without giving any reason for such action to his family,” the source, a family member, who spoke with Daily Trust, said.

Olalekan was said to be an holder of Ordinary National Diploma (OND) certificate and a worker at Alaro City, a sprawling mega estate along the Lekki-Epe Expressway.

A family friend further narrated: “For some time now, Olalekan has been acting strangely. For more than a week, he couldn’t sleep. He just woke up yesterday (Tuesday) to say he was going. They asked him, ‘going where?

“They tried to hold him but he overpowered the people around because he was very powerful, maybe it was a spiritual attack. We could not ascertain that. He just woke up and said he was going and that they should pray for him. They held him but he overpowered them and went straight to his girlfriend’s house to tell her to take care of his child, because they might not see each other again.”

It was learnt that one of his brothers, who lives in Ajah, saw the trending video and alerted the family.

“He told their father that they should not bother looking for Lekan because he saw him on Berger Bridge as he jumped into the lagoon and he must have died,” the source further said.

Asked why the person who recorded him could not save him at the scene, the family friend said, “The person that made the video was alerted by the motorists on Lekki-Epe expressway and he was walking towards him while recording but he could not catch up with him.

“The guy was far away from him. He was about to hold him when he jumped inside the river. Nobody could hold him there except somebody who can swim.”

Olalekan’s corpse had not been found 48 hours after he dived into the lagoon.

Another source told our correspondent that the deceased’s elder sister, who was a student of Lagos State University (LASU), died a few months ago.

She reportedly slumped while writing exams and died afterwards.

A source told Daily Trust that rescue efforts were being hampered by the massive presence of hyacinths in the river.

Spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, CSP Adekunle Ajisebutu, had not responded to our correspondent’s enquiry as of the time of filing this report. (Daily Trust)