Residents of Obawole and Onibata communities in the Ifako Ijaiye Local Government Area of Lagos State have been troubled since April 11, when four-year-old Chukwuemeka Okoro fell inside a water channel.
Efforts by search parties to find the remains of the child had been abortive, as family members and residents toiled for weeks, combing canals and drainage channels without result.
It was raining heavily on that fateful day.
Chukwuemeka and two of his cousins had boarded a motorcycle to pay a visit to an uncle.
As the downpour intensified, the motorcycle rider made a stop to take cover from the rain.
While trying to find shelter to avoid being drenched by the rain, the toddler and his two cousins disembarked from the motorcycle and stood in front of a gate, which was an inch away from an open drainage channel covered by flash flood.
Soon enough, the child slipped and fell into the drainage, as his body was swept through a nearby canal at Obawole.
The boy’s father, Ikechukwu Okoro, told Saturday PUNCH that since the incident happened, his family had been visiting different water channels with the hope of recovering the boy’s remains.
He noted that the family was only interested in retrieving Chukwuemeka’s body to enable them to carry out the final rites as demanded by tradition.
He said, “When we reported to the police, they said we came late. They told me that we should have reported earlier. I told them I didn’t even know to whom to report when the incident happened. We were not able to report this incident on time because we were hoping to see the boy’s body. On every search were more than 50 people.
“From Onibata here, this canal led to Ajuwon, so we went there. We followed it down. From there, we went to Alagbole. From there, we took the search to Akute-Odo, where people told us that the river was unconnected to the one we told them about. We have even extended our search to Kara. We only need to find the body so as to perform our traditional rites.”
The boy’s uncle, David Okoro, who also spoke to our correspondent, said he could not tell how Chukwuemeka got close to the drainage.
He said, “My wife has a shop on Oloyede Street. All of them were in the shop — the boy, my son, my wife and others — while she was about to close for the day.
“The elderly one had to take two of them with him on a bike home, while my wife took the other two children with her. She helped them to the motorcycle, so they left before her.
“But because of the rain, the commercial motorcyclist decided to find a place to stay on the road before they continue the journey. Had they not stop on the road, they would have got to their destination.”
Our correspondent, who visited the scene, reported that volunteer residents had not relented in the search for the body of the boy.
Everyone expressed worry that the water might have taken the child far away from the community.
Before the tragic incident, it was learnt that residents of Onibata had become wary of the community drainage and made several appeals to the state government for help.
According to some residents, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH, the appeals did not yield any fruit.
They feared that another tragedy might happen if the government failed to do the needful.
A death-trap drainage
When our correspondent visited the area during the week, the call for urgent construction of a proper drainage system was on everyone’s lips.
The state of the drainage was said to have forced many residents to abandon their homes for a safer area, while those who had no alternative lived in fear, especially during the rainy season.
Residents claimed that snakes and other reptiles raided homes frequently.
Chukwuemeka’s uncle, David, appealed to the state government to construct a proper drainage system to prevent a recurrence.
He said, “I will appeal to the government to repair the drainage. Anytime rain falls, the place is a no-go area. They should also cover all the drainage channels in the area. This is because if the place was covered as normal channels should be, this incident would not have happened. This could happen to anyone’s child.”
A resident of Onibata, who did not want his name in print, said the drainage posed serious danger to residents.
He said, “Over time, we have called the government’s attention to all these things. It has been one promise after the other. When we get to the height of the rainy season, water always enters people’s houses from the canal. Although the marking has been done by way of a barrier, work is yet to commence.
“This is the rainy season and the government should just come and do something before it gets to a stage where water will carry people away from their apartment.
Credit: Punch
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