The Nigerian Police reported that a director in the Kogi State civil service, Edward Soje, on Friday 20th committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree in Lokoja, the state capital. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered on Saturday in Lokoja that the dangling body of Mr. Soje was found on a tree behind the mammy market at the Maigumeri barracks, the Nigeria Army Command Record. The 54-year-old civil servant is believed to have taken his life barely 10 days after his wife of 17 years gave birth to a set of male triplets in a private hospital in Abuja. The couple had been childless before then. Mr. Soje, was a Grade Level 16 Officer in the Kogi State Teaching Service Commission, and was being owed 11 months’ salary arrears as at the time he took his life.
But the state’s head of service, Deborah Ogunmola, later said the death of Edward Soje should not be blamed on Kogi State. In her Sunday statement, Ms. Ogunmola said Mr. Soje was caught in false age declaration practices during a staff verification exercise introduced by Governor Yahaya Bello. “His pay was stopped after proof emerged that he falsified his age records. His confession to the offence is on video,” Ms. Ogunmola said. “Following engagements with labour, the Kogi state governor magnanimously commuted the disciplinary action due against certain categories of offenders by grant of pardon. Soje fell into one of the categories. “Pardoned workers were processed for reinstatement and payment in batches.
The Kogi state teaching service commission, where he worked, had forwarded a template for payment to government and Soje was aware that he was listed to receive six months back pay, leaving only two months (August and September) outstanding. It was learnt that the head of service said she met with the deceased a few days before his demise. She said there was neither hint of the “horrible decision” in his demeanour nor did he appear as one who was depressed.
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To this regards, the House of Representatives has now mandated its Ad Hoc Committee on Bail-out Funds to investigate non-payment of salaries of Kogi workers and report back within one week. The House also mandated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to within one week report and explain the utilisation of Salary Bail-out Fund given to states. The directives followed a unanimous adoption of a Motion of Urgent National Importance moved by Rep. Sunday Karimi (Kogi-PDP) at the plenary presided by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara on Tuesday. Moving the motion, Karim said in spite of the federal statutory allocation, salary bail-out funds and Paris Club refund received by Kogi Government, non-payment of state and local government workers salaries lingered. He said Mr. Edward Soje, a Director in the Kogi Civil Service Commission committed suicide for not being able to meet his obligations as a father and a husband. The Hose urged the Federal and State as well as Local Governments to prioritize payment of salaries. The lawmaker, who advised the three tiers of government to be considerate and just, urged Nigerians not to commit suicide, no matter the difficulty.
