Man sets himself on fire over wife's infidelity

A middle-aged man whose wife was caught having sex with his errand boy in Delta has committed suicide by setting himself on fire.

A middle-aged man identified simply as Oghene has committed suicide after he set himself ablaze following his wife's flirtatious lifestyle in Delta State.

According to Guardian, the deceased committed the act at his residence at Owharen Street, Ovwian in Udu Local Council of the state on Friday, July 7, 2017, after he doused himself and apartment with petrol and set fire to it with the inferno spreading to other apartments, destroying property worth millions of Naira in the process.

A resident of the area noted that the victim had in the past weeks, threatened to kill himself after his wife was reportedly caught red-handed having sex with one of the man's errand boys in the area.

“On Friday when the man returned home, he locked himself, poured fuel on his body and thereafter light himself. He was burnt beyond recognition before help could come.

Some few weeks ago, his wife, Blessing, was caught pants down by their neighbours with a young boy who washes the man's Keke NAPEP.

The boy is one of the boys whom he usually sent on errands in the area. Though the wife has since left his apartment, the man returned home that day, poured fuel on his body, barricaded himself inside his apartment with an iron bar and set himself ablaze,” the resident told newsmen.

Another resident of the area said they were drawn to the incident when a thick smoke was seen emanating from the apartment of the deceased and was fast spreading to other neighbouring apartments whose residents were already asleep.

The owner of the building, Nyonren Egharan, while lamenting the incident said:

“When the fire broke out, I ran to where the fire started from, broke into the apartment and tried to rescue the victim who held on to a chair and insisted that he wanted to end his life.

His action during the inferno that claimed his life, fuels the suspicion that he may have set the house on fire by himself to reinforce the suicide argument. I sustained serious burnt from the raging fire while trying to rescue the victim.”

A source at the Ovwian-Aladja Police Station also confirmed the incident, adding that the victim had been evacuated to a nearby morgue.