A LIEUTENANT Commander in the Nigeria Navy, Solomon Derikoma, has died mysteriously just days before he was scheduled to travel with some of his colleagues for an African study tour.

According to a source who pleaded anonymity, Derikoma, an expert in weapon engineering, was found dead on Sunday in his room at the Armed Forces Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna state.

He was a member of the 53rd Regular Course of the Nigeria Navy and hails from Rivers State.

The source said that Derikoma’s classmates noticed that he was absent during parade so they went to check on him in his room and found that the door was locked with a padlock from outside indicating that there was no one in the room.

“However, the padlock was broken and the officer’s body was found in the room with a stone by the side and in a pool of blood, suggesting that he was possibly murdered,” the source said, adding that “the body has also started decomposing, which means it happened anytime from Friday”.

Derikoma’s colleagues still went ahead with the study tour but the source says officers on the ground were handling the situation.

Authorities of the Nigeria Navy are yet to issue an official statement about the development.