Third Mainland Bridge

 Island’s Most Sought After Suicide Spot

From

Nigeria Today

Nigeria2Day@aol.com

 

Abridged version culled from Island News, The free weekly community newspaper for Lagos Island, Ikoyi, Victoria Island and Lekki

 

Commissioned in 1990 by former military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, Third Mainland Bridge was built to ease heavy traffic previously experienced on Carter and Eko Bridges . The bridge has turned out to be a robber’s den and no man’s  land especially at dusk. Experience a breakdown, and only expect Area Boys to be your unwanted guests. A few dirty slaps with the intimidation of a gun, charm, knife or machete, and they’re away with whatever valuable maybe in sight. For those who depend on public transport, being a victim of  ‘’One-Chance’’ is a case of head or tail, once you get on the bridge. In addition to easing traffic in the nation’s  commercial capital, this bridge has attracted an unusual criminal activity of suicide. Today, Third Mainland Bridge is the most sought after suicide spot on the Island and perhaps in the entire state. Is it because jumping into the lagoon is a relatively fast method that is less likely to cause minimum psychological anguish, and provide less opportunity to ‘’chicken out’’ ? To the suicide mind an ideal method would be essentially instantaneous. Unfortunately, jumping into the lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge may be the reason for the increasing number of persons who end up there. Some have succeeded, while others have failed.....

 

‘’Suicide is not chosen; it happens when pain exceeds resources for coping with it’’. This expression is the general view of psychologists the world over. Among the famous people who have died by suicide are Boudicca, Cleopatra VII of Egypt, Hannibal, Nero, Virginia Woolf, Adolf Hitler, Mark Anthony, Ernest Hemingway, Alan Turing, Sylvia Plath, Marina Tsvetaeva, Yukio Mishima, Hunter S. Thompson, Ludwig Boltzmann, and Vincent van Gogh. Suicide is a global tragedy, says the United Nations. Every 40 seconds someone commits suicide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). It says mental disorders, particularly depression and substance abuse, are associated with more than 90% of all cases of suicide. A suicide is likely to occur during periods of socio-economic, family and individual crisis situations such as the loss of a loved one, loss of employment or honour, says the WHO.  

 

Here on the Island , the excruciating emotional, financial and psychological stress which is plentiful, is taking its toll. Some in the community are able to cope others who think life offers no solution to these problems, invariably resort to what they regard as the easy way out. Some have been known to starve to death, hang, set fire on themselves,  take drug overdose, jump from a tall building or from a bridge, consume poison, get electrocuted, use a firearm such as a gun to cause a fatal injury or slit their wrist with a sharp object.  

 

The Third Mainland Bridge is the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island , to the mainland, the other two being the Eko and Carter bridges. The bridge starts from Oworonshoki which is linked to the Apapa-Oshodi expressway and Lagos-Ibadan expressway, and ends at the Adeniji Adele Interchange on Lagos Island . There is also a link midway through the bridge that leads to the Herbert Macaulay Way , Yaba. The Bridge which has assumed notoriety for sucide victims, was commissioned by General Ibrahim Babangida in 1990 and measures over 10km in length. Several of those who commit suicide on the Island prefer jumping into the lagoon from Third Mainland Bridge , according to Island News investigation. The trend is worrisome. Ayobami, a banker, was in her thirties when she took a drive to Third Mainland Bridge . Her mission was simply to commit suicide. And she did just that. Reports said she took a taxi to the dreaded spot on the bridge and plunged into the waters after the taxi left. She had exhibited signs of depression precipitated by childlessness and unemployment, but no one thought it was serious enough until she took her life. Similarly, Uzor a street trader had attempted suicide on the bridge. Fortunately he failed because, he landed in the shallow area of the lagoon. Some fishermen eventually rescued him. Many suicide methods have the potential to cause severe suffering if unsuccessful, in the form of irreversible organ damage, disfigurement, and so forth. In the case of Uzor he suffered a broken leg.  

 

Saliu a painter could have taken the plunge, but was persuaded from doing so by an Island pastor who was driving by. The tale goes on and on. According to the police, suicide has been on the increase in recent years, but the rate at which suicide is being committed on Third Mainland Bridge has been a major concern. It is estimated that at least one person commits suicide by jumping into the lagoon from Third Mainland Bridge every week. Whilst some may regard this as an exaggeration, fishermen who spoke with Island News said, it might indeed be an underestimation. ‘’first we thought floating dead bodies in the lagoon nearby where we fish had met their fate under questionable circumstances but after witnessing a persistent trend of people jumping from the bridge to their death, we’ve had a rethink as to the reasons bodies constantly appear in the waters’’ one of the fishermen said in a staccato of Pidgin English but well translated here for readers. Another suicide victim was reported to have sat on the edge of the bridge for about two hours before he took a plunge under the watchful eyes of the fishermen. ‘’The man was a 65 year old and as we fished we watched him thinking maybe he was on the bridge to contemplate the fate of his life. After about two hours, he jumped into the lagoon. We quickly rushed to save him, but he struggled. Eventually we overpowered him, but not until he had swollowed so much water. He looked like he could swim, but he just wanted to drown’’ another fisherman told Island News