How CCTV saved me from arrest –Doctor who tried to rescue RCCG gospel artiste that committed suicide

An Abuja- based medical doctor , Daniel Eitokpah, who was detained after trying to revive a suicide victim , Michael Arowosaiye, has described his exoneration as providential .

Arowosaiye, who was a gospel artist with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, had reportedly hanged himself on Tuesday at Sunnyvale Estate , Lokogoma District , Abuja.
An Instagram user , Eitokpah Henri – Paul , had posted a series of videos on Wednesday , with a caption that read in part , “ My brother , a medical doctor , along with two onlookers were detained for trying to help resuscitate a young man who committed suicide yesterday . The police have him held for no reason ; they named them as suspects , and asked them to write statements without any reason for detaining them . ”

Daniel , who graduated from Ternopil State Medical School , Ukraine in 2016 and completed his house job at the National Hospital, Abuja , is a National Youth Service Corps member .
The doctor , in an interview with our correspondent , said he lived in Sunnyvale Estate , where the incident occurred on Tuesday evening .

“ I went to a friend ’ s place within the estate; she had made a pot of soup for me, so I wanted to pick it up . On my way out of the place , just walking to my car, two blocks away where the incident happened , I saw some men, about five guys . One of them was shouting for help . Rather than enter my car, I walked towards the small crowd to find out what was happening .
“ The guy shouting for help was saying , ‘ There is someone inside the house — at the back — hanging himself . ’ He kept repeating it and I was trying to be careful to understand the scene and what was going on. I initially thought it was a kidnap attempt, so I tried to distance myself from the people .

“ I asked him , ‘ If you know there is someone hanging himself inside the house , why don’ t you go and help him ?’ He said he was scared as there were dogs in the house . So, I asked the neighbour standing by, ‘ Can you go to the back and peep over the fence to see if this is true ?’ He ran there , confirmed it and came back shouting , ‘ It ’ s true , there ’ s someone there hanging himself . ’”
According to Daniel , the picture he got was that the victim was in the act of hanging himself .

“ That prompted us to quickly go inside ; we actually scaled the fence and ran to the back of the house where we saw the guy . He was hanging on a wire but his feet were touching the ground , and I ran to him , held him off the ground to free his neck from the strain of the wire.
“ The other guys came and took the wire off his neck. We placed him on the floor . I assessed him , checked for a pulse , but there was no sign of a pulse . So, I immediately started performing CPR ( cardiopulmonary resuscitation ) .

“ I continued doing CPR , thinking this thing just happened but there was still no response ; his body was stiff . I did CPR until a bystander said , ‘ Don ’ t worry , he ’ s dead . You have tried . ’ So, I stopped . Honestly , it was like a dream to me. I think as I was doing CPR , someone was calling the police and the estate security , ” he stated .
He explained that the chief security officer in the estate arrived before the divisional police officer , who came after about 20 minutes .

He said , “ There were about 10 of us that actually entered the house to rescue that guy , but most of them left when they heard that the police were coming. So when the DPO got to the scene , it was just a few of us that were around — me, the man who saw the guy hanging himself and the neighbour , who was like the deceased ’ s flat mate .
“ We explained to the DPO everything that happened , how we heard a guy shouting for help and went there . I explained to him that I thought it was something that had just happened and tried to resuscitate him .
“ I explained everything I did to him and his response was , ‘ You are a doctor . You should know that you are not meant to tamper with the evidence . ’ I tried to explain to him that the information we got was that the guy was in the act ; if there was an iota of life in that guy , at least, we should give him a chance . ”
Daniel noted that the DPO , from the moment he appeared on the scene , kept addressing him in a demeaning manner .

He said they were taken to the police station from there ; and while at the station , he overheard the DPO tell the Commissioner of Police that three suspects have been arrested in connection to the incident .
“ Shortly after , the commissioner of police came in and I heard the DPO telling the CP , ‘ We have arrested three suspects . ’ I felt that the statement meant a lot . The DPO, the CP , my father , my pastor and church members of the deceased went back to the scene of the suicide.
“ God just had it that there were CCTV cameras around the house . There was one directly facing the entrance of the boys’ quarters where the guy had hanged himself . That was our saving grace .
“ It showed everything — how the suicide took place . Immediately they saw we were not guilty , they made a call to the police station to prepare for our release , ” he said .
Asked if the experience would discourage him from helping victims in the future , he said , “ Definitely . I have spoken to many of my colleagues after this and the advice they gave me was , ‘ Daniel , this is Nigeria. When you see something happening , just keep walking . ’”

When contacted , the acting Police Public Relations Officer in Abuja, Danjuma Gajere , said , “ There was a CCTV in the house . When the policemen watched the CCTV, they saw that nobody ( besides the victim ) participated in that suicide , so they released them immediately , on the same day .
“ After the police asked them to write their statements , they removed the corpse and started investigation immediately . When they saw the CCTV footage, they released them immediately . They did not even arrest them ; they asked them to go . It was just an invitation . ”

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