Kogi govt approves hospital bill payment for family of civil servant who committed suicide

Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State has approved the payment of the hospital bill of the widow and triplets of Edward Soje, a director in the State Teaching Service Commission who allegedly committed suicide.

Mr. Soje’s body was found hanging from a tree behind the Mammy Market at the Magumeri Barracks in Lokoja, the state capital.

Reports said he took his life barely 10 days after his wife of 17 years gave birth to a set of male triplets at a private hospital in Abuja. The couple were childless before the birth.

Mr. Soje was owed over 12 months salary before his death.

The State Head of Service, Deborah Ogunmola, had stated that the salary of the Mr. Soje was withheld after proof emerged that he falsified his age records.

Mrs. Ogunmola, however, wrote a memo to Governor Bello asking for assistance to the widow and her kids to settle their hospital bill.

In the memo, seen by PREMIUM TIMES, the HOS told Governor Bello that the widow left behind by Mr. Soje “are due to be discharged from the hospital but are currently faced with the dilemma of how to settle the accumulated hospital bill and a suitable accommodation for the family.”

She also said the hospital bill as at November 4 , “stands at N1,627, 000.00 (One Million Six Hundred and Twenty Seven Thousand Naira Only) at the Grabbo Fertility Clinic Diagnostic Centre at No. 23rd Avenue, Gwarimpa Abuja.”

Mr. Ogunmola in the memo dated November 6, with Reference Number HCS/MISC/COR/VOL.1V/721, urged the governor to kindly “consider and approve the release of the sum of N1,627,000.00 00 ( One Million Six Hundred and Twenty Seven Thousand Naira Only) in favour of Mrs. Grace Adebusola Soje as assistance to offset the accumulated hospital bills of the family on compassionate ground.”

The correspondence on the memo shows that Mr. Bello granted approval of the request on Tuesday, November 7.

It is however unclear whether the payments have yet been made to the hospital.