
This happened yesterday, Thursday
July 24th at Apata Street in the Somolu area of Lagos.
A nine-year- old child, identified as Riliwan, fell
into a soakaway pit and died. Riliwan, who until his death was a primary six pupil of a primary school in the area, was to attend his graduation ceremony that morning where he was billed to be given prizes for coming first in his class,
when tragedy struck.
According to Punch newspapers, a resident said his parents, who were devout Muslims, had sent him to pour away a bowl of dirty water they had rinsed their hands in after eating Sahur (Ramadan pre-dawn meal), when he fell into the pit.
The resident, who did not want his name mentioned, said, "The incident happened around 4am.
There was no power supply. His parents had finished eating the
early morning meal, preparatory to the fasting, when they asked him to empty a bowl of dirty water inside the gutter.
As he went out in the
dark, he stepped on a covering on the soakaway, which gave way."
Another resident said after his parents did not see him return, they
became worried and searched everywhere for him. It was only about seven hours later that one of his foot wares was seen at the mouth of the soakaway.
A"People rallied round and tried draining the water in the soakaway,
before they were able to bring him out. But he had died," A crowd of sympathisers were seen
in front of the house condemning the owner of the building for not
sealing the soakaway before giving out the apartments.
Our correspondent observed that
there were two openings on the soakaway.The holes were said to be covered with used printing plate
sheets.
An angry resident ran to the place where the victim fell and pulled back
one of the plates to the pit surface to demonstrate how "anybody could have fallen victim at that time of the night" "This house was completed four months ago and the owner did not deem it fit to cover the soakaway
with slabs.
This is evil, sheer wickedness," When our correspondent approached the father of the victim, he said he had no comment. "Please we have nothing to say.
We don't want this matter blown out of
proportion. We will be burying him soon,"Our correspondent could hear
a woman wailing, "Riliwan, Riliwan" as people in the room tried consoling her.
The deceased's father asked PUNCH Metro to leave the house, and the
gate into the house was shut.
Nobody was ready to point out the owner of the house for comment.
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Title :
9yr Old Boy Drowns in a
Soakaway Pit in Lagos
Description : This happened yesterday, Thursday July 24th at Apata Street in the Somolu area of Lagos. A nine-year- old child, identified as Riliwan, ...
Rating :
5