An applicant seeking
Nigerian international passport has died in Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS)
Passport office, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The applicant was said to
have arrived the passport office at about 7.am in company of his wife and they
were asked to wait till 9.am when they would be attended to.
At
about I0.am, the man became restless and started complaining of severe heat and
discomfort. He, however, requested to use the restroom.
However, trouble started
when he didn’t come out of the toilet after about half an hour and his wife
became very worried.
It was learned that after
about 40 minutes, an attendant from the agency knocked several times and he did
not respond. ”We tried to open the door, but it was locked from the inside,”
the attendant said.
An official who spoke on
the condition of anonymity said: “We don’t know what was wrong with him, he
came with his wife, he was so uncomfortable with himself and a bit aggressive,
complaining that he should be attended to as he and his wife arrived the passport
office before other applicants.
”Later he went into the
convenience to ease himself. Later an attendant knocked severally on the door
but no response. We couldn’t force the door open, because our superiors warned
that we should not break the door until the police arrived the scene.”
It was learned that when
the police arrived and forced the door to the toilet opened, an official of the
passport office said they found the deceased on the floor.
An eyewitness, who
identified herself simply as Jenny, said he died before the police arrived and
forced the door open.
”Who knows, maybe he would
have survived if he was rushed to the hospital immediately before the police
arrived,” she said.
Confirming the incident,
the Passport Controller in charge of Ikoyi Passport office, (PCO) Mani Yari,
said: ” Yes, it is the truth, an applicant died in our toilet. He came to our
office with his wife.
There was no queue, as he
did not come to collect Passport. We attend to applicants from 9 am. Along the
line, the deceased said he wanted to ease himself.
It was after about 40
minutes that the wife started raising the alarm that her husband had not
returned from the toilet. We thought it was the normal panic from a woman.
But when we arrived at the
scene and he did not open the door, we called the police who came and forced
the door open and we saw the lifeless body. The body has been deposited at the
mortuary for autopsy.
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