A 67-year old who conspicuously jumped into Asa River on Abdulwahab Folawiyo, Unity Road, Ilorin, Kwara State in an attempt to allegedly commit suicide has been rescued.
Mr. Abraham Olayinka was said to have jumped into the river in the late hours of Monday, October 26.
The attention of security men around the area was drawn by traders within the vicinity on the incident.
According to onlookers, one Mohammad Abubakar, a commercial motorcyclist, jumped into the river together with some fisherfolks, eventually succeeding in rescuing the man.
The Head of Media and Publicity of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, whoconfimed that the victim was rescued before firemen arrived at the scene, indicated that Olayinka was unstable when he was first brought out from the water.
He, however, pointed out that, the victim was later revived and rushed to a nearby hospital where he was stabilized.
Adekunle further indicated that, the victim refused to state the reason for attempting suicide in spite of the pressure mounted on him by the fire service.
It was later gathered though, by reports in the media and from some residents that Olayinka recently lamented about losing N30,000 belonging to a friend to some thieves.
Abubakar, the commercial motorcyclist who rescued him, said, “I was riding along this area when I saw people gathering around the river bridge. I decided to stop to see what was actually going on, and I was told the old man jumped into the river and there was nobody to help him.
“When I discovered that the old man was still breathing, I waited for a moment to get police permission to rescue him and I immediately jumped into the river.”
