Sacked Top Shell Staff Commits Suicide

A top staff with Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Fred Oghumu, 55 yesterday committed suicide by hanging himself in his house at Idera Street, Off Awoyokun Street, Onipanu, Lagos.

The deceased, it was learnt, was scheduled to appear in a Lagos court today in a case of money laundering instituted against him by his employers.

P.M.News gathered that neighbours woke up early in the morning yesterday to discover the dangling body of Oghumu who hails from Warri in Orokpe Local Government Area of Delta State.

Investigations revealed that Oghumu removed the two SIMS in his GSM telephones and this made it impossible for anyone to reach him.

It was also gathered that the deceased left a typewritten suicide note. The note was found on him when his body was removed but its content was not disclosed to anyone by those who removed his corpse.

However, a neighbour told P.M.News that the late Oghumu was always lamenting the termination of his appointment by Shell. He was fond of uttering such words as: “my appointment was terminated.” The source said he repeated this many times before his death.

“He was always in pensive mood, keeping to himself most of the time. Nobody believed he could go this far until this morning when we learnt he hanged himself,” said a neighbour who craved anonymity.

Reacting to his death, his former wife and mother of his first child, Ovie Oghumu, 25, denied any knowledge of his state of mind lately, saying: “Since he drove me out of his house, I have been serving my God. If I have any hand in his death, the Lord I serve will fish me out.”

She added: “I am very sure my God does not sleep, whoever killed my husband will be exposed very soon. I thank God for my son, Ovie, at 25, he is not only matured but he has also given his life to Christ. He attends church regularly and abstains from smoking, drinking or any other vices.”

As at the time P.M.News left the tragic scene, his wife, who lived with him till his last days, was not ready to speak with journalists but neighbours told our correspondent that she was just returning from the church when the body was being brought down.

The late Aghumu is survived by two children, one each from his two women.