“Psalm 121:3 says God will not suffer your foot to be moved. He that keepeth you will not slumber. Amen. You and the three boys, God Almighty will keep you prosperous. Amen. I love you.”

That was the suicide note Edward Soje, a senior civil servant in Kogi State, left for his wife who just put to bed a set of male triplets, before going to hang himself on Saturday.

The body of Soje, a 54-year-old, Level 16 Officer in the Kogi State Teaching Service Commission, was found dangling on a tree on Saturday, a week after he was declared missing.

According to Punch, Soje allegedly took his own life 10 days after his wife put to bed in a private hospital in Abuja after 17 years of childlessness.

The deceased hailed from the Ogori/Magongo Local Government Area of Kogi State and was owed 11 months’ salary arrears as of the time he took his life. His wife also works with one of the federal ministries in the state.

William Aya, spokesman of the Kogi State Police command, confirmed the incident, saying that Soje’s body was found dangling on a tree behind a military barracks at about 5.55 pm on October 16.

Aya said the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Area ‘D’ division received the information about the incident from the military intelligence office in the barracks.

“Policemen moved to the scene, removed the corpse and took it to the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre in Lokoja (and) investigation is ongoing,” Aya added.

It was not until October 20 that relations and friends of the deceased discovered his corpse at the mortuary where the police had deposited it.

Family sources told newsmen that Soje had been going through a series of financial challenges due to the non-payment of his salary by the Kogi State Government.

He was said to have sold his only car and a three-bedroom bungalow he was building at the Otokiti area of Lokoja in order to meet his financial obligations to his family. Sources said Soje sold the uncompleted building for N1.5 million in April.

After his wife was delivered of the set of triplets on October 7, Soje was said to have remained in the hospital looking after them until October 13 when he travelled to Lokoja.

In Lokoja, he went to his bank and requested to close his account after withdrawing the N30,000 remaining therein.

He returned to Abuja and handed the money to his wife, and joined by two clergymen and a few relatives, a little naming ceremony was performed for the triplets right there in the hospital.

Soje left the hospital saying he wanted to get some things from his wife’s apartment in Abuja, but that was the last that was heard of him.

Hours later, after many calls made to his phone were not answered, his wife sent emissaries to the house to find out what was wrong. After knocking for several minutes, the door was forced open and Soje’s phone was found on top of the table in the sitting room alongside a suicide note.

A search began immediately for him in Abuja and Lokoja, which culminated in the discovery of his body at the Mortuary of the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.

A family member described him as a “very quiet and lovable human being”.

Civil servants in Kogi State are currently being owed between two and 23 months salary arrears, but Yahaya Bello, the State Governor, claims he has cleared all the arrears and workers are being owed only August and September salaries.