Liberian woman commits suicide in Lagos

A Liberian woman, popularly called Kate was found hanging from a tree on Bankole Street, Isheri-Oke, Lagos today, September 12, in what appears like a suicide.

Punch reports that residents identified the woman as a Liberian who worked in a sachet water factory. They however said she was not a resident of the area.

Residents said the woman had no problems with the community but after the Ebola incident brought in by her countryman, Patrick Sawyer, residents distanced themselves from her.

One of the residents who pleaded anonymity told PUNCH: “We see her in this neighbourhood every day. She always looked sick but people stopped selling to her after the Ebola outbreak. It could be because she was Liberian and looked sickly. This might have frustrated her.”

According to another resident: “She attended a church in the area and her church members still saw her yesterday. I used to see her every day in the dress she died in. She was sick and people in this area had avoided her, especially after the Ebola outbreak.”

Some landlords, who are members of the Isheri Oke Community Development Association, said the incident had been reported to the Isheri Police Division but as at midday, the body was still hanging on the tree for obvious reasons – the contagious Ebola