When Stephen Ola-Atunbi, a primary four pupil, was strolling out with a neighbour last Saturday, little did he know he was on a journey of no return. Ten-year-old Stephen was said to have accompanied one Nafisat Badmus to withdraw money at a bank in Ijaiye– a few kilometres from their residence on Hassan Ogunmole Street in the Abule Tailor area of Lagos.
PUNCH Metro learnt that it was raining when they were returning from the bank and they decided to wait for the rain to stop at a shop on James Akanbi Street. Our correspondent gathered that the drains that connect a canal which links the street to Aboru and Ipaja Ayobo– neighbouring communities– were submerged by flood. As Badmus and Stephen later continued their journey home, it was learnt the latter accidentally fell into one of the drains. However, efforts to rescue him by some men in the area proved abortive. One of the rescuers, a mechanic, who identified himself simply as Wasiu, said, “We tried to get the boy, but it was futile. It was a colleague called Two Naira that first jumped into the drain to rescue the boy. At a point he held on to him, but the volume of the water was so much that the boy slipped from his hand. “Two Naira sustained injuries in the head in the process. He had gone to the hospital again for treatment. I was also injured in the back. I just resumed work today (Wednesday).”
A vulcanizer, who did not want his name in print, told PUNCH Metro that two other men were killed by flood on the fateful day. “Apart from that boy, two dead bodies were found along Aboru,” he said.
The atmosphere was solemn when our correspondent visited Stephen’s parents on Wednesday. Relatives, friends and neigbours were seen consoling the family. The mother, Mrs. Rachael Ola-Atunbi, described the deceased as an ideal child that any parents would pray to have. “As young as he was, I can’t finish explaining his role in the family. Whenever I was depressed, he consoled me. He would assure me that God would certainly bless us. He was brilliant and religious,” she said. Stephen’s father, Moses, said he was in the office when he got the distress call, adding that his son had left a vacuum that would be difficult to fill.
He said, “I am pained, but I take solace in the fact that from God we cometh and onto Him we shall return. On Sunday we searched the canal, but could not find him.” A landlord in the area, Mr. Adebayo Raheem, said flood had been ravaging the community on yearly basis. He added that Stephen’s death was one of many cases. The Chairman of the community development association, Evangelist Jossy Ayodele, said several letters had been written to the Lagos State Government to no avail. The Police spokesperson in the state, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, confirmed the incident. He added, “We are not aware of the two other corpses that were said to have been recovered on the fateful day.”
PUNCH
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