72-year-old slumps, dies by roadside after visiting son

Emotion ran high in the Iyana Ipaja area of Lagos after a 72-year-old man slumped and died by the roadside. It was learnt that the septuagenarian, whose name had yet to be ascertained, was coming from his son’s house and going home.

He had disembarked from a commercial bus in the area around 8pm on Sunday, as the man crossed to the other side of the road, he slumped. A crowd was said to have rallied round him and poured water on his head, thinking he would regain consciousness.

Our correspondent was told that the rescuers alerted the police at the Oke Odo division when it dawned on them that he was dead.

On searching the body, the police reportedly found a mobile phone and wads of cash worth about N500,000 in his pockets and bag.

An eyewitness, Ladi Akande, a commercial driver at a park in Iyana Ipaja, said he was astonished by the man’s death, adding that the police contacted his son, who passed out on sighting the corpse.

He said, “The son and his wife came in a car. They found it difficult to believe the father was dead. But when he realised it was true, he fainted. After he regained consciousness, he said his father had spent the weekend with them and that he gave him the money for a project. He said he did not show sign of sickness before he left his house.

“The way the man died surprised me and everybody who saw him shortly before the incident. It was like magic.”

Another witness, who identified himself as Lateef Alarape, said he was among those who attended to the man. He said the valuables found on him were handed over to his son.

Alarape said, “I did not know where the man was coming from, but I saw him as he alighted from a bus with a bag across his shoulder. He greeted somebody and crossed to the other side of the road.

“All of a sudden, I heard people calling for help and saw him on the ground. I ran there to know what was wrong. We poured four sachets of water on him, but he did not respond. We discovered that he had stopped breathing and called the police. The police found about N500,000 in the bag. The man should be around 72. The money and his corpse were handed over to the son.”

A trader, Semiat Ibrahim, said the man’s look did not suggest that he was sick.

“He was a huge person and looked healthy. Only God knows what went wrong with him,” she added.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the death. She said the family of the deceased rejected the police’s move to investigate the incident.

She said, “The 72-year-old man slumped and died. Policemen visited the scene, but the family members of the deceased took his body away, informing the police that they don’t want any investigation into the incident.” 

 Punch