About 24 hours after a yet-to-be-identified man drowned at the Abule Egba area of Lagos on Monday during the heavy downpour, residents of the area have confirmed that the body of the man is yet to be recovered.
NPO Reports correspondent who visited the scene of the incident observed that the hole in which the man drowned during the downpour is at the Charity Road Junction, by Abule Egba in the road that leads to the Abattoir.
One of the eyewitnesses said it appeared that the man had left his car at the nearby UBA branch on Charity Road and was trekking when he fell into the hole.
But security men at the UBA branch, just about 50 metres away from the scene told NPO Reports that no car was left behind as at the close of work on Monday. They could also not confirm if he actually came to the bank for any transactions.
The owner of medicine store near the hole, God Dey Pharmacy said he didn’t know when exactly the man fell inside the hole but it was the noise from people around that brought him out and he saw they were trying to help the man which was drowning but unfortunately they were unable to.
When the NPO Reports correspondent got to the scene Tuesday morning, he observed that the drainage where the man sunk leads down and empties water into the bigger river crossing the Abule Egba-Agege Road by the Lagos State Abbartoir and Lirage.
The video that went viral showed that for some time, concerned people made spirited efforts to save him holding his hands.
“But the pressure of the water was further pushing him down the drains and no one wanted to take the risk of jumping into the drain since we did not know to what extent the place was then deep. After much efforts, we left his hands and no one saw him again,” recalled Mr. Chukwudi.
Could the body have been washed down to the river near the lirage?
HOW DID THE HOLE GET THERE?
An eye witness and one of those who made unsuccessful attempts at rescuing the man, Mr. Benson Chukwudi, said the hole the man fell into was opened more than a year ago by construction officials handling the repair of the road in the area.
- Chukwudi told NPO Reports that since the culverts were opened, they had not covered the area leaving very wide open places that pose dangers to pedestrians. The resident blamed negligence on the part of construction officials for the tragedy and others that might occur as a result of uncovered drainages.
IS THE MATTER CLOSE?
NPO Reports spoke with Dr. Oke Osanyintolu, General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency. His officials were said to have come for inspection yesterday after the rains had subsided. But there was nothing they could do at that point. The man was no longer in sight.
As at the morning of Tuesday, there was no one in sight to suggest that everyone had not given up if only to recover the body.
“The matter not close. We have commenced recovery efforts and that is why all those in the neighbourhood also need to assist,” Osanyintolu told the NPO Reports.
STAY AT HOME WHEN IT IS RAINING – LASEMA
The LASEMA boss also said that Lagos residents must heed the warning of the agency to avert disasters. He said it is pathetic that residents ignore the warnings of the agency adding that what Lagos witnesses is flash flood which will go away once the rain stops.
Osanyintolu said, “With simple rules and regulations, when there is rain, if it is heavy in Lagos State, stay in your house. When the rain subsides within few hours, it will drain. We cleared all our primary drainages , we cleared all our secondary drainages and our tertiary drainages.
“But because of the topography of Lagos state presently, it will appear that it is flooded but after some times, after some hours, it will clear and all over the world, that is what we call flash flood.
“So, that is why we are appealing to our people that “stay home” make safety everyone’s business, but unfortunately some people are not complying and that’s why we are experiencing all this.”
He said as a responsible government however, the agency would not fold its arms. “We would keep on assisting all this people, as to what happened now, we have commenced recovery search. Our personnel are at alert. I have spoken to the people in that environment whenever they see something, they should say something. So, when they see something, we put it in our bulletin. We put it in the radio, in the media that whenever you see something the should quickly tell us.”