The canal where the incident occurred
Eko Hot Blog reports that at least eight people, including a yet-to-be-identified mother and her baby, are reportedly missing in the Agege area of Lagos State after flood induced by a heavy downpour was said to have washed them away.
According to Punch, the heavy downpour occurred on Thursday with flood overruning a canal around the Abattoir area in Agege. The flood reportedly levelled up to the bridge, making it impassable for motorists and residents to navigate their destinations in the area.
It was learnt that a tricycle operator while plying the axis, escaped death by a whisker when the flood swept his tricycle into the canal.
A resident, who gave his name simply as Wasiu, said as the events that almost led to the death of the tricycle operator happened, a woman while backing her child, lost control of her movement and fell into the flood.
As the flood was washing the mother and her child away, Wasiu said another resident, Umar, attempted to rescue the mother and her child by jumping into the flood, adding that the current of the flood washed the three of them into the canal.
“The owner of the tricycle is my friend. He is a mechanic who stays in Oko-Oba. He was coming from Agege but when he got to the bridge, he realised flood had overrun the bridge and waited but suddenly lost control of the tricycle. As the tricycle moved forward, the flood dragged him and the tricycle into the canal,” the eyewitness told Punch.
“He was the only one in the tricycle and he survived because he swam out of the canal. His cloth got torn and people gave him something to wear. He is recuperating in the hospital.
“Around the same time, a woman, who carried her child at her back, tried to manoeuvre the flood but lost control, fell into the flood and it swept her feet and started dragging her and her child into the canal but Umar jumped into the flood to save them. The three of them have not been found to date.”
During a visit to Umar’s residence on Saturday, his neighbour told Punch that they got to know of the incident when people raised the alarm as the flood was sweeping them away.
However, in another interview, another resident, who gave his name simply as Bamidele, said two tricycles were involved in the incident.
He added that while one of the tricycle operators escaped, the other tricycle operator and his passengers were swept away by the flood.
Meanwhile, officials cannot confirm the number of casualties as a result of the flood.
The Chairman, Orile Agege Local Council Development Area, Johnson Babatunde, when contacted, confirmed the incident but he could not ascertain the number of victims.
“I’ve gotten the report. It happened at Abattoir beside Total Filling Station. Our people need enlightenment. How can you see a flood and decide to enter it? I don’t know what is happening to all these tricycle operators,” he wondered.
“There were five people in the tricycle. People were there waiting because of the flood.”
Asked if the corpses of any of the victims had been recovered or if anyone of them was rescued, Babatunde said, “We have not seen them, there is no update yet.”
The Divisional Police Officer of the Abattoir Police Station, CSP Olatunji Oladimeji, said he led his men to the scene to investigate the case but the details are still sketchy.
He said, “Everyone we spoke with could not confirm it. They kept saying they heard about it. We heard different stories. Some people said it was a motorcycle while others said it was a tricycle.
“It is difficult for us to file such a report. Nobody can tell us that they saw them. And till now, nobody has come here to report that anything has happened to them or their loved ones.”
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