The operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Muhammed Opatola, found dead inside a toilet in the Iwo Division of the Osun State Command was buried at the Muslim Cemetery, Owoeba Area, Osogbo after a brief prayer on Tuesday.
Opatola, who until his death was attached to the Iwo Division, slumped in office on Monday and was rushed to a hospital in Iwo, where he was confirmed dead.
PUNCH Metro gathered from a source privy to the incident who pleaded anonymity that Opatola had become restless after receiving an alert of his monthly salary which fell short of his expectations.
The source said, “I just want to update you about an ugly event that just happened to one of my senior colleagues in Osun command today. The officer slumped and died after he received his October salary because the amount he was expecting did not come and discovered that he was even short-paid.”
Meanwhile, a colleague of the deceased officer refuted the claim, and stated that Opatola did not immediately slump after seeing his salary alert, but rather went about his duties before the illness struck.
When our correspondent contacted the NSCDC National Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi, he confirmed Opatola’s death in a telephone conversation on Tuesday.
He however disputed claims that the officer died as a result of the salary he had received stressing that his corpse was found in a toilet.
Afolabi added that Opatola was an easy-going and dedicated officer whose death was a loss to the NSCDC family.
In his words, “That is not true, this is not the first time of him collecting such a salary. So, why was it that it was when he received his salary alert that he fell? This is a case of a heart attack.
“We are all human beings and we just pray that God should spare our lives. No one was there to say what happened. He went to the toilet and his dead body was found there.
“When we receive salary alerts, we often joke about it. The officer was a friend before I left the Osun Command. He is a very cool and calm person,” Afolabi said.
