He toiled daily to put a roof over his head, a home he would call his own and live for the rest of his life. Though slow and sometimes frustrated, but he made progress commensurate with his income till early this month when he eventually roofed the building.
To celebrate the feat, Folarin Babalola, aged 60, a resident of Afao, Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State, woke up early on Friday, September 11, and headed for a liquor shop where he allegedly purchased numerous bottles of beer.
Then, he went to his new house for a solo celebration of his effort and achievement even though the building was uncompleted. On arrival, he settled at a comfort zone and commenced the merrymaking, gulping the bottles of alcohol one after the other.
Unfortunately, the celebration ended on a sad note as he passed out on a journey of no return. Babalola was suspected to have excessively consumed the bottles of beer and laid dead. He was not alive to relieve his moment of pleasure, and could not eventually occupy the home he laboured to build.
His lifeless body was reportedly found in the uncompleted building by two residents of Fayose Market area of Afao, Ikere Ekiti, identified as Chief Adu Olajide and Mrs. Kehinde Omotosho, who reported their strange find to the police at Ikere Ekiti on the same day.
Scudnews learnt that following the report, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ikere Ekiti police division led a team of policemen to the scene where the corpse was identified, evacuated and deposited at the State Specialist Hospital, Ikere Ekiti morgue for autopsy.
A police preliminary report on the incident sighted by our correspondent indicated that “On receipt of the report, the DPO led a team of police detectives to the scene where the corpse was identified to be one Folarin Babalola aged 60yrs, owner of the uncompleted building with bottles of beer on the ground. Hence the deceased was suspected to have drunk himself dead”.
It added that detectives at the Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) of the Ekiti State police command were investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.
