Why a 21-Year-Old Man Sets Himself On Fire In Lagos

A 21-year-old man, Utochukwu Ukandu, set himself ablaze in the Agbado, Egbe area of Lagos State at about 9pm on Monday.

On the day of the incident, he was said to have gone into his house, poured kerosene on himself, the bed and the house. After which, he lit a matchstick, setting the whole place ablaze.
His elder brother, Ebuka who saw him setting himself ablaze was the one who raised the alarm, alerting other residents who called the firemen from the Lagos State Fire Service, Ikotun division.

The firemen were said to have arrived promptly with 10,000 litres of water with which they doused the flames. They also rescued the victims who luckily survived with a high degree of burns.

According to Punch report, the victim had been telling his parents he would kill himself out of frustration but nobody gave him a listening ear as they all thought he was joking.
A source said, “Nobody knows exactly why he took that decision. All we know is that he had been telling his parents he would kill himself, but they did not take him serious."

Confirming the incident, the Director of the state fire service, Rasak Fadipe, urged parents to pay more attention to comments of their children.
He said, "Where a child has been threatening that he would kill himself, it is important that parents take such a child apart for counseling to avert tragedies."