A middle age man, Mr John Achagwa, who was a chief steward at Government House Maiduguri, Borno State, has committed suicide.

He was found dead hanging by the branch of a tree.

No one could yet say why he took his own life.

But his colleagues at work said he was seen wearing moody looks all through the morning till afternoon when he suddenly disappeared.

Another colleague who would not want to be named said “he was not in good mood throughout today and at a point, he even asked me to help him delete a particular number off his phone and I told him I don’t know how to do it.”

“He was with us till about 1.30 p.m. When we went for prayer and came back, we couldn’t find him. We thought he stepped out. But later someone called our attention that a man was hanging by his neck at the back of the lodge.

Achagwa presumably took his life on the eve of the inauguration of the new state governor.

Those who knew him well said he had retired about three years ago but was retained by the state government due to his exceptional cooking skills.

His body was brought down from the tree by security officials at about 3:20 p.m.

Achagwa, who was very popular within the Government House, had served almost all governors that ruled in Borno state.

PT