55-year-old security guard with the Evangelical Reformed Church of Christ (ERCC) in the Sabon Pegi Area of Lafia LGA of Nasarawa State, Danladi Anva, recently committed suicide after he allegedly sold a piece of land to two people and was arrested by security agents.
Anva was said to have allegedly sold a plot of land to a woman in the same Pegi area for N150,000 in 2021 but resold the same land to another client for N230,000 in 2022.
The deceased, a farmer who was said to have become distraught after his arrest, was alleged to have ingested a pesticide to end his life.
He died four days after he was released from police detention at the “B” Divisional Police Station at Azuba Bashayi, Lafia LGA of the state, on June 6, 2022.
Speaking with Daily Trust, his 27-year-old son, Yohanna Anva, said his parents gave birth to six children, but one died.
According to him, when he heard that two separate people paid for his father’s land, he approached him to get clarification on the matter but that he did not say anything to him. He added that as time went on, he thought his father had paid off the woman who first bought the land, so he didn’t bother to ask again.
“I never knew that he did not return the money until towards the end of May 2022, when the woman came to our house and angrily informed us that someone had trespassed on her land,” Yohanna said.
Yohanna, who is the oldest child of the deceased, disclosed that his father was at the police station for a few days, lamenting that they went through hell before he was released from detention.
“The whole thing is still like a dream to me. It is still hard for me to believe that my own father is dead. I am shocked because he was a very healthy and lively man, “Yohanna, who is currently working in a block company, lamented.
He continued, “So, on his arrival at home, I noticed that he was always moody and I made effort to know what was wrong, but he did not say anything to me. My father was a very quiet man. He hardly told us about his challenges.
He confirmed that his father actually died four days after returning from the police station.
“On that fateful day, June 5, 2022, after we returned from church, he was at home with us until 3:00pm when he took his bath and went out. He did not tell us where he was going, but we knew that he was not going too far because he wore a casual dress,” he recalled.
He confirmed that his father sold the particular plot of land to two different people, noting that at first he sold the land for N150,000 to a woman living in their neighbourhood in 2021 and later sold the same land for N230,000 to a man who urgently needed a piece of land to buy in 2022.
“When I heard that two different people paid for the land, I approached him to get clarity on the matter, but he did not say anything to me. It was on a Sunday, so my siblings and I did not go anywhere throughout the day. We were at home doing our domestic chores. To our greatest surprise, our father, who went out completely healthy, returned home as someone very sick,” he said.
He explained that when he arrived in the evening of that fateful day, he had little or no strength in him, stating that he advised his siblings that they should take him to his room to rest before finding a solution to his health challenge.
“After he had been in his room for some time, I went in to be sure that he was stable, but to my greatest surprise, I noticed that he had drunk a herbicide. I perceived the smell of the chemical from his mouth. Then I searched and found an empty container in his room.
“At that point, he could not speak to us because he was very weak and almost lifeless, so we decided to rush him to the Primary Health Care Centre in Kwandere, near Lafia town.
But on getting there, the health centre referred us to Dalhatu Araf Specialist Hospital in Lafia, where he was admitted and received treatment but later died,” he said.
He disclosed that his father was buried on the same day his corpse was brought to their family compound according to Christian rites, noting that there was no need to delay, especially because of the circumstances surrounding his death.
Also younger brother to the deceased, Hussaini Anva-Makpa, 52, said that his late brother on that fateful day he visited him in his house and asked him to borrow him (Anva) N2000, but didn’t know what he was going to use the money for.
According to him, his late brother was hale and healthy as at the time he came to his residence, adding that he was not under any pressure from the buyers of the land and, to the best of his knowledge, he didn’t mention any of such to him.
He added that when he returned from the police station, the first buyer of the land who arrested him came to their house with her husband and they discussed extensively with his late brother, and the outcome of the meeting was that his brother would get another land for her, but he unfortunately died a few days later.
He said his brother did not tell any member of their family about his worries.
“The only known challenge at that time was the land issue, and we did not imagine that he could take his own life because of it.
“We are still surprised till today. Accepting the reality that he killed himself is not easy for me. But his children and I have accepted our fate. He is dead now, though painful, but we have to move on with life,” he said.