SHOCKER Graduate Found Dead After Recovering From Mental Problem In Lagos

Tragedy struck in the Mile 12 Ketu, area
of Lagos State after the corpse of a 28-
year-old graduate, identified simply as
Kehinde, was found in a well.
PUNCH Metro gathered that the victim,
who lived with his father on Omosebi
Olugbo Street, had been declared missing
before his bloated body was found in an
abandoned well in their house on
Friday.
Residents told our correspondent that
Kehinde had been attacked by a strange
mental illness for about five years and
was always indoors.
He was said to have recovered recently
from the illness before he was found
dead in the well.
He was said to have been hurriedly
brought out and buried by the family.
When our correspondent visited the
street on Friday, the shops attached to
the house were locked.
A resident, John Awesu, said the shop
owners stopped business activities after
Kehinde’s corpse was recovered that
morning.
Awesu said the deceased was well known
in the area.
He said, “Kehinde and his twin brother
are well educated and they graduated
from the university together. Their
mother died a few years back, but their
father stays in the house.
“He had been sick for the past five years
and because of that, he was always kept
indoors.
“His illness was strange because it was
off and on. On a particular day, he
absent-mindedly walked away from the
house before somebody who knew him
brought him back home.
“They used to chain his legs and hands
to keep him indoors. A few times that he
stepped out, he was in chains.”
It was learnt that Kehinde suddenly went
missing from the house and the family
began looking for him on Wednesday.
He was said to have been found in the
well on Friday.
A resident said, “We were preparing for
sahur to begin our fasting that morning
when we saw an ambulance enter their
house. We immediately sensed
something was amiss.
“It was after the corpse had been taken
away that the family told the landlords
and some family friends that they found
his body in the abandoned well.
“The well was always locked. The
residents in the house depend on the
community borehole for water. How
Kehinde entered the well is a mystery.”
PUNCH Metro was told that the family
hurriedly buried the victim.
Another resident described Kehinde as
soft-spoken and gentle. The resident,
who did not identify himself, explained
that on the day the victim was declared
missing, he came to his shop to buy
something.
He said, “He was a gentle and nice
young man. He was at my shop to buy a
bottle of water.
I even joked with him because he
appeared to have recovered from his
sickness. There was a time he was very
lean and almost died because of the
mental problem.”
Our correspondent observed as some
friends and relatives poured into the
house to pay condolence visit to the
family.
PUNCH Metro approached one of the
family friends to say what he knew
about the deceased.
However, the friend, who confirmed the
incident, said he needed the permission
of the family to comment.
Our correspondent was asked to stay
outside the building.
When he emerged from the house, he
said the family was not in a good mood
and did not permit him to talk.
He said, “I am sorry. The family
members said they did not want to talk
about it. They are not in a mood to
discuss the incident.”
When contacted, the Police Public
Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, said
the case was not reported to the police.
He said, “The matter was not reported
and when our team went there, the
occupants of the building denied that
anything like that happened.”