A 37-year-old man, Chinedu Nweze, has allegedly set himself ablaze beside a classroom block at St. Patrick’s Primary School, Kpirikpiri, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.
Mr Nweze was taken to Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, for treatment after allegedly committing the act on Monday, police said on Tuesday.
It was learnt that Nweze, a native of Umuogharu, Ezza North local government area of the state, had told his neighbours a day before the incident that he was frustrated and could barely feed himself.
Nweze was said to have tied his legs and wet himself with petrol before lighting a match stick.
Ebonyi police spokesperson, Lovett Odah, said the Command was investigating the incident to ascertain if it was a suicide attempt or not.
“The command dispatched an ambulance to the scene of the incident and took the man to hospital after it received a distress call from a member of the public.
“Police are currently carrying out investigation into the incident but for now we have very sketchy information about the incident and cannot confirm if the act was a suicide attempt or not,” Mrs Odah said.
She added that the man is now recovering from the burns in the hospital.
