Drama as man drinks detergent to evade arrest in Lagos

The police are to charge a 29-year-old man, Olusegun Ogunleye, of No. 16 Idahosa Street, Ajao Estate, Lagos, for stealing and attempted suicide once his health improves.

Olusegun was said to have consumed a bowl of detergent when soldiers, who accompanied his lover, Blessing Gotam, and her cousin, Peter Gokat, to his apartment to retrieve two phones and bags he allegedly stole when he visited the girlfriend in Epe.

The source added that Olusegun, after consuming the detergent, fainted and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he is receiving treatment.

It was learnt that Olusegun is suffering from kidney failure and that his mother, Mrs Victoria Ogunleye, had relocated to Ajao Estate to take care of him.

The source stated, “Olusegun went to Epe, stayed there for three days with Gotam and her cousin. On Monday, when Gotam, her cousin and his wife left for work, they left Olusegun in the apartment and he  later called the girlfriend and told her that he was leaving with two mobile phones, an Infinix valued at N46,000 and a Tecno valued at N23,000.

“He told Gotam that he had also taken her bag, which contained her clothes, perfumes, cream and other items. The woman pleaded with him not to take the phones as one of them was Gokat wife’s office property.

“So, after some weeks when Gokat’s bothers, who are soldiers, decided to accompany him to Ajao Estate to retrieve the items. Olusegun, whom the soldiers met at the junction, went home with them.

“His mother told the soldiers that she had asked him to return the phones.

“Feeling that the mother had embarrassed him, Olusegun went into the room, locked himself up and consumed the detergent instead of being arrested by the soldiers.”

Another source, who identified herself simply as Rose, stated, “The organisation, where Gokat’s wife worked, fired her because of the stolen phone. She took the phone home to charge because there was power outage in the office area for sometime.

“Olusegun did not only pick the phones, he also took the woman’s bags containing her clothes and other items. When the woman, her cousin and soldiers met him in Ajao Estate, he told them that he had burnt the clothes.

“This is the same guy, who was employed in the church to play musical instruments, but the church had to sack him because of stealing. He even stole and sold the church’s piano.”

All attempts to speak with Olusegun’s mother, Victoria, proved abortive as calls to her telephone indicated that the number did not have a facility to receive calls.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Bala Elkana, confirmed the incident and said Olusegun would be charged with theft and attempted suicide once his health improves.