There was confusion on Bankole Street, Isheri-Oke, Lagos on Friday
morning when residents woke up to the sight of a woman hanging on a
tree.
The woman, popularly called Kate in the area, was found dead in a
black sweater and orange skirt under a pear tree.
PUNCH correspondent, who also visited the scene, gathered from the
residents that the woman did not live on the street.
Residents who spoke to PUNCH correspondent also said that the woman
was a Liberian who worked in a sachet water factory before she died.
While they said that the woman had been sickly for some time, the
residents said she did not appear to have any problem with anyone in
the community.
But after the outbreak of the Ebola disease that was brought to
Nigeria by a Liberian diplomat, Patrick Sawyer, some of the people in
the area opted not to have anything to do with her.
One of the residents who pleaded anonymity said, "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."
Another resident who spoke to PUNCH correspondent after his request
for anonymity was granted said, "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."
The PUNCH gathered from some landlords, who are members of the Isheri
Oke Community Development Association, that the incident had been
reported to the Isheri Police Division.
Efforts to reach the Baale (head) of the area, Chief Albert Bankole,
for comments proved abortive as he declined to speak to The PUNCH on
the issue.
The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Ngozi Braide, could
not be reached for comments.
Meanwhile, when PUNCH correspondent left the area around 11am, the
woman's body was still hanging on the pear tree.
PUNCH
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