The family of an Inspector serving with the Ago Palace Police Division of the Lagos State Police Command, Jeremiah Omaga, has been thrown into mourning after he returned from work, slumped and died during treatment in a hospital in the state.
Omaga, who resides in Queen Barracks, in the Apapa area of the state, returned home from his duty post at Ago Palace Police Division and started to complain about feeling unwell.
Our correspondent learnt that the officer’s health worsened shortly after complaining, prompting his wife to call one of his friends, who came to take him to the hospital.
The deceased’s neighbour, who identified herself simply as Comfort, said Omaga could not walk when he was brought out of his apartment in the barracks, adding that he had lost a lot of strength before he got to the hospital.
She said, “I saw him when he arrived on Sunday morning around 9.30am, and when I greeted him, I noticed he was not feeling too well. Shortly after greeting him, his wife came out of their apartment to meet his friend who came with a car.
“It was at that point that I knew that he was about to be taken to the hospital. But by the time they brought him out of the room, he could not walk by himself.”
A family member of the deceased, Kazeem Bonobi, said he got to know of his health condition after his wife called to inform him, adding that efforts to speak with Omaga proved abortive because of his condition.
He said, “The wife called me to say that my brother came from work and he was not talking. She said he dropped his bag and went straight to lie in the bed, and did not even attend to the children.
“He also told his wife that he wanted to rest, but she felt something was wrong with him due to the way he was behaving. When she touched his body, she said her husband started feeling pains, so she called me.
“I left home immediately and by the time I could get to their house, she had already taken him to hospital with the assistance of the neighbour. By the time I got to the hospital, he had been placed on oxygen. He was just staring at me and could not do anything.”
As the policeman was lying on the sick bed, Bonobi said tests were done to ascertain his medical condition, adding that Omaga died before the results were ready.
He said, “A test was carried out on him immediately he got to the hospital. But he gave up in the middle of the night before they could even provide the result of the tests.
“But as we prepared to move his corpse, we were told to wait for the outcome of the tests so as to know what to write on his death certificate.
“When the result came out, it was stated that his death had to do with his sugar level and high blood pressure.”
Our correspondent gathered that the late policeman’s corpse had been taken to his home town in Kogi State to perfect his burial rites.
Efforts by our correspondent to speak to the Omega’s wife, who had been inconsolable by her husband’s death, proved abortive.
Contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the development, saying Omega’s wife informed the command after he started behaving strangely when he returned from work.
He said, “The wife called his office, said he was stooling when he got home and was taken to the hospital where he passed away.”
Credit: PUNCH
