Man, 37, Allegedly Sets Self Ablaze

The police in Ebonyi on Monday rushed a 37-year-old man to the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, for treatment after he allegedly set himself ablaze. The premier newspaper reports that the man, identified as Chinedu Nweze, allegedly set himself ablaze beside a classroom block at St. Patrick’s Primary School, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki. He was said to have tied his legs and wet himself with petrol before committing the act. Our correspondent learnt that Nweze, who hails from Umuogharu, Ezza North Local Government Area of the state, had complained to his neighbours of frustration and inability to feed himself, a day before the incident. Ebonyi Police Command Spokesperson, Mrs Lovett Odah, said that the command was investigating the incident to ascertain whether it was a suicide attempt or not. “The command dispatched an ambulance to the scene of the incident and took the man to hospital after it received a distress call from a member of the public. “Police are currently carrying out investigation into the incident but for now we have very sketchy information about the incident and cannot confirm if the act was a suicide attempt or not,” Odah said. According to her, the man is now recuperating at the hospital.