14-year- old Calabar boy hangs self with shoelace
Residents of Ekondo Street in Calabar are in shock and disbelief as they grapple with the tragic suicide of a 14-year-old boy named Donald, who resided with his grandmother at 49 Ekondo Street in Calabar South. On a fateful Saturday afternoon, Donald was alleged to have committed suicide by using a shoelace as a makeshift noose.
The heartbreaking incident has left the community in distress, with many questioning how such a young boy could resort to such a drastic measure.
According to one of his friends, Eyo, “Donald had completed his morning chores that Saturday and then went to buy a local staple known as fufu. However, after purchasing the fufu, he mysteriously vanished, and no one heard from or saw him until around noon”.
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His grandmother, in a state of shock, called a carpenter to help bring the lifeless boy down from where he was found hanging by a rope around his neck. The carpenter, bewildered by the scene, inquired about what had transpired, but the grandmother was unable to provide any coherent explanation, leaving him no choice but to rush out of the premises to raise the alarm.
“Nobody heard any noise from the compound until the carpenter ran out and raised alarm and we all went inside the compound. The boys legs were on the floor, there was no table or object which the boy climbed on to fix his head on the noose and the string round his neck was just a shoe lace”. Donald stated.
He said the police from Atakpa Police station came in to assess the situation and later went back.
“The police did not touch the boy and and others who were called to take the boy down did not touch the body and when the woman was asked to take the boy down she refused”.
Another resident of the street said he is at a loss how the boy could have committed suicide with a shoe lace.
“There is no how the boy could tie that tiny rope on his neck to commit suicide without the shoe lace cutting”.
He said since the boy died he has been having nightmares and seeing the boy in his dream.
“We were very close and since Saturday afternoon when I saw him leaning on that wall with a rope round his neck, each time I sleep, I see him and he .keeps asking for justice. All these are happening because the boy is an orphan. His dad and mother are both dead.”
When Newmsmen visited the 49, Ekondo street, the gate was locked and neigbours say the occupants had gone to church.
“She has gone to church and will not be back till later in the evening” Miss Elizabeth Edet, a shop owner in the neighborhood said.
Ms Irene Ugbo, the Cross River Police Command Spokesman said she is yet to be briefed on the matte. “If the incident took place on Saturday, then I would get the details on Monday during briefing” she said