Economic Hardship: Confusion As Father Of Nine Commits Suicide

A one-time Councillor and father of Nine, Benbede Kitchen yesterday threw Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital into confusion with the decision of hang himself over alleged unexplained absence of his Wife from home and economic hardship.

Kichen, who is aged 43years old and popularly known as G.K. Bekegbo, hung himself with a bed sheet at about 4am on Wednesday and did not leave behind a suicide note.

The late Councillor,who served as a supervisory Member on Health of the Rural Development Authority (RDA) in 2000 during the Late D.S.P Alameiseigha, died after a desperate and frustrating searxh for his wife, Madam Beauty.

While some claimed he killed himself due to the economic hardship due to increased case of alcoholism and economic hardship, others claimed he took his life after the desperate search for his wife and suspicion of infidelity.

At the deceased home, kinsmen of the deceased from Ekeremor Local Government area‎ Council were seen gathered making arrangement on how to handle the situation.

Many of the sympathisers claimed the deceased is well known and popular among the politicians from the area.‎ The deceased was reported to have been screened out of the Civil Service during the Chief Timipre Sylva administration.

Leadership gathered that the Wife,Madam Beauty,became the bread winner of the family with a retail kerosene business.

The caretaker of Mr. Kitchen’s apartment Mr. Benjamin Samuel, told newsmen that‎ “I am the caretaker of the building, around 12 midnight he came to my room and asked me to give him a particular phone number which I did, only for me to hear people crying and a knock on my door around 6: am, at first I thought it was armed robbers.”

“I was led to one of the rooms upstairs where I saw his lifeless body dangling on the ceiling; I was the one that brought his corpse down together with one of my boy. Later I was told that he was making some angry calls midnight before he went to hang himself. I am confused and disturbed why he chooses to kill himself leaving seven lovely children behind. It is unfortunate.”

Another neighbour who pleaded anonymity, said, the deceased was not in good terms with his wife who is a petroleum products retailer, adding that the deceased has been complaining that the wife was starving him of sex.

“Around midnight, he went about knocking the tenants’ houses, complaining that he was looking for his wife. When he knocks at my room, I told him that she was not here, some of us also tried to help him find the wife because her number was switch off. Only for us to wake up this morning to discover that he has hanged himself, maybe it is because of the wife.

A family member and senior brother to the deceased, Chief D.M Apelibiri , dismissed the claim of alleged infidelity against the wife, insisting that the trip of the accused wife on her kerosene business was disrupted by the Police,” the woman came home the next day after ensuring that she secured the release of her products and came to meet a lifeless body of her husband.”

(Leadership NG)