First City Monument Bank Plc says its official,
Olisa Nwakoby, who committed suicide on Friday in front of Our Lady Star of the
Sea Catholic Church in Lekki, Lagos State, had personal challenges and became
frustrated.
Olisa Nwakoby
The bank, however, noted that neither the
management nor colleagues of the deceased were aware of the challenges, adding
that it was working with Nwakoby’s family and the police to unravel the nature
of the challenges.
Forty-four-year-old Nwakoby, said to be the
manager of the bank’s branch in Lekki, shot himself in the head over a bad debt
estimated at N350m on Friday.
The deceased was said to have given out the sum as loan to a bank customer, who
allegedly failed to service the loan.
He was reportedly under pressure from the bank’s
management to repay the loan and became frustrated as he could not meet the
demand.
But the Acting Group Head, Communications and
Brand Management of the FCMB, Lola Egboh, who spoke with our correspondent on
the telephone on Sunday, said the suicide had nothing to do with the bank,
adding that she did not have the knowledge of any loan.
Egboh, who described Nwakoby’s death as shocking,
said the bank would have come to his aid if it was aware that he had emotional
challenges.
She said, “It is rather unfortunate that the
incident happened. Mr. Nwakoby was a member of staff of the FCMB. We are not
aware that he was facing personal challenges, which led to the incident.
As a
bank that caters to the well-being of its workers, we have counsellors who
could have helped him. This came as a surprise to us as it was to the public.
It is such a trying time for the family; we have been in touch with them. There
is a lot of speculations going on at the moment, a lot of them unfounded.
“We are working closely with security operatives
and his family to understand what could have led to the personal challenges. I
am not aware of any loan. I can’t comment on speculations.”
Efforts to speak with the family proved abortive
as of press time. But a source close to the family said, “They were too
distraught to speak to the press now.”
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer,
SP Dolapo Badmos, said a pistol and live cartridges were recovered from the
scene, adding that Nwakoby corpse had been deposited at the Lagos Island
Hospital’s morgue.
She said, “At about 9.45am on Friday, one Olisa
(Nwakoby) allegedly shot himself in the head with a pistol in front of Our Lady
Star of the Sea Catholic Church on Northern Foresore Estate, Lekki.
“A team of policemen attached to the Ilasan
division visited, examined and photographed the scene.
The exhibit, a silver
America pistol with five rounds of unexpended ammunition, was recovered to the
station while the corpse was removed and deposited at a morgue for autopsy.
Investigation is ongoing.”
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