Suicide: Shettima built house for deceased steward, aide says

A steward with the Presidential lodge inside Government House in Maiduguri, John Achagwa, who took his own life on Tuesday, was supported by Governor Kashim Shettima to build a complete a seven bedroom apartment and also given a car by car which he used to work, the Governor's Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy, Malam Isa Gusau said in a statement.

Gusau said Shettima was shocked and has been wondering what kind of depression could push John, who was generally known to live comfortably, resort to taking his own life.

"Governor Kashim Shettima is deeply shocked by the unfortunate incident especially given the fact that John who looked in mid 60s was publicly known to be one of the Governor’s favourites as he served important guests at the Presidential lodge for more than 30 years. When John retired from civil service, Governor Shettima had requested that he be retained as casual staff because of his good services and the confidence in him. The Governor even supported John with personal funds with which he used in completing his beautiful house at a good location like Polo in Maiduguri. John also had a car to himself and he lived very comfortably. He was known to be friendly. The Governor has since directed the Commissioner of Police to ensure thorough investigation including carrying out a post mortem on his corpse and digging questions everywhere to establish what pushed him to take his own life" Gusau said in the statement.

The spokesman said the Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Aliyu was earlier ‎at the scene of the incident, which was a garden around the Presidential lodge where John worked. The CP also confirmed to journalists that from police preliminary investigations, John lived a comfortable live but the police was determined to take investigations to his family to establish possible causes of depression.

Isa Gusau
Special Adviser on Communications and Strategy
Government House, Maiduguri.
May 28, 2019.