A man, suspected of being mentally ill, stayed on top of a high-voltage electricity tower in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, for nine days before authorities brought him down on Tuesday.

Agustinus Woro, 49, who has climbed more than 10 tall advertising hoardings and electricity towers since 2013, has been a regular headache for officials who have to ensure his safety.

When he climbs a structure it is usually as a form of protest against alleged injustices and he carries banners to express his concerns.

In February, Agustinus climbed a hoarding at the Slipi intersection in West Jakarta carrying banners that alleged human rights abuse by the military.

When he climbed another hoarding in Setiabudi, South Jakarta, half naked, in May, he hung out up several banners including one saying, “Dissolve political parties.”

At that time, Setiabudi Police questioned him to find out his motives and he said he was upset about his nephew’s death and blamed the military for it.

The native of Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, was later sent to his relatives who live in Senen, Central Jakarta. Despite making many life-threatening climbs, Agustinus’ mental health was not evaluated.

Carrying only a bag of food, Agustinus did not have any banners during his latest ascent of the power-line tower on Jl. Yos Sudarso, but he did have a megaphone.

However, given the volume of traffic noise at the location few if any of the people who gathered to watch could make out what he was saying. Most were only concerned about his safety.

Agustinus broke his own record by staying aloft for nine days. Previously, he had only stayed up for less than a week.

When officials from the North Jakarta Fire and Rescue Agency removed him from the tower, which is more than 50 meters high, on Tuesday, he was already weak and did not resist when they took him to hospital to get physical and mental checkups.

The North Jakarta Police have yet to decide whether he will be charged for disturbing public order. “We will get him treated first because he was very weak after being evacuated. Then, we will conduct psychiatric tests,” said North Jakarta Police chief Comr. Dwiyono.

It was not an easy job to get Agustinus back to street level. Fire agency officials monitored him from a drone operated by the North Jakarta branch of state electricity company PLN.

“Our personnel climbed up two or three times to persuade him to come down but he resisted. When we tried to approach him, he threatened to set fire to himself,” Fire agency head Satriadi Gunawan said on Wednesday.

Eventually on Tuesday Agustinus gave up and asked the agency personnel who had climbed the tower to help him down.

Agustinus said his protest concerned the death of his nephew, who, he alleged, was murdered by his foster father, a serving soldier.

In 2013, the National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) investigated the case but there was no evidence to support his allegations.

At that time President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo who was then Jakarta governor talked to Agustinus on the phone, urging him to get down but to no avail.

And Agustinus has kept on climbing ever since.

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