An asylum seeker from Nigeria has allegedly died by suicide in a Dublin park, Metro Éireann has learned.
The incident reportedly took place in Phoenix Park on Saturday 11 May but his body was only discovered the following morning, said a source who knew the deceased – who has been identified by friends as Ken Oghene (aka Osas Osasume on Facebook).
Close friends of the single Nigerian man, who had been living in Ireland as an asylum seeker since 2009, said he was “almost homeless and frustrated with the system” before his death, apparently because his application for refugee status was refused some time ago.
However, they added that there was no sign that Oghene – who shared a room with a friend on Dublin’s North Circular Road near Phoenix Park – was in any immediate danger days before his death.
A source told Metro Éireann: “Some few weeks ago, [Oghene] had been telling friends that he wanted to relocate finally to London, he started selling some of his things. He confided in some of his friends that he was tired.”
On Saturday 11 May, he apparently locked up his room and gave the key to a friend living in the same apartment, telling him he was travelling to London.
Later that day, at some point between 11pm and midnight, Oghene was said to have called another close friend and requested him to phone an ambulance, stating Phoenix Park as his location but not giving any other information.
“An ambulance was actually dispatched to the location but they couldn’t find him because it was dark and Phoenix Park is expansive anyway,” said our source. “On Sunday morning a cyclist discovered the body dangling from a tree and quickly alerted the guards.”
Oghene was laid to rest at Harold’s Cross Cemetery on 21 May. He is the second person of ethnic minority background to have allegedly died by suicide in Ireland this year, with both incidents shocking the Nigerians community here.
Last February, Janet Akinsaya (39) was found dead in the home of a close friend whom she was visiting in Balbriggan in north Co Dublin.
“It is a worrying trend and we’re looking at finding out why Nigerians are taking up the trend now,” said Tony Ogochukwu, chairman of Nigerians In Diaspora Organisation Europe (Nidoe) Ireland.
“Suicide is not rampant in Nigeria,” he told Metro Éireann. “People might be going through difficult times in Ireland now but we are appealing to fellow Nigerians that committing suicide will not solve the problem.”
Ogochukwu called on the Irish Government and the Nigerian Embassy in Dublin to urgently look into what seems to be a “rising trend before it becomes the norm within the Nigerian and African community”.
He added that the authorities should identify professionals who could help those facing problems.
At press time, a spokesperson from the Department of Justice declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Oghene’s death, saying it was a matter for An Garda Síochana.
Meanwhile, Gardaí also declined to comment, citing its policy not to “discuss matters of a personal nature involving a personal tragedy”.
