Five days after he was reported missing by his family, a 50-year-old man, Mr. Joseph Oranusi, was found dead and abandoned in front of a shop on Capitol Road, Agege, Lagos state.
Until his death, Oranusi, who hailed from Idemili, Anambra State, worked as a security guard at a complex within the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja.
The deceased who lived with his family at Olusanya Street, Isokoko, Agege, was initially reported missing at the Isokoko Police Division on Thursday, October 24, 2014, the day he failed to return home from his workplace, Punch reports.
Aside reporting to the police, it was learnt that the family also went to the deceased’s office only to find out that he signed out from office by 7.15am on the fateful day.
They made an announcement on broadcast media as the searched for their missing father got more intense.
It was gathered that five days into the search, Oranusi’s corpse was discovered in front of an abandoned shop on Capitol Road, Agege by some policemen on patrol from the Dopemu division.
Speculations by some neighbours are that the man must have slumped on his was back from work.
Oranusi’s widow, Mrs. Hope Oranusi, disclosed on Tuesday, November 18, 2014 that her greatest pain was that her husband was taken away to a morgue in Yaba, while the family was not contacted even though the police found an identity card on him.
She said, “We had looked everywhere for him since the day of the incident. He had left for work on the night of Wednesday and had not returned in the morning as usual. He had hypertension and he used to take some drugs to alleviate the effects.
“It was five days later that a church member called me that someone heard that an abandoned corpse was found in front of a shop on Capitol Road.
“They did not allow me to see it, but when his younger brother went, it turned out to be my husband.
“My shock was that we learnt the police took the body to a morgue for a mass burial. I was very sad. How could a man returning from work and found with an ID card be taken to a morgue for a mass burial without his family or workplace being contacted? However, they have rescinded the decision.”
Mrs. Oranusi, who has three children and teaches in a private secondary school, added that she believed that although people might have failed to come to her husband’s rescue, he died a natural death.
“He died a natural death. His body was found intact. So, I don’t think anyone was responsible,” she said.
Confirming the incident, the Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Kenneth Nwosu said, “The police recovered his corpse. His case was recorded as Sudden and Unnatural Death. The police took the body to a morgue where an autopsy should have been conducted to ascertain the cause of death. But on the family’s request, his body has now been released for burial.”
