The parents of Chukwuemeka Okoro, a four-year-old boy, are currently in distress, as the flood swept away their son.
It would be recalled that Okoro was swept away by flood following heavy rain last week Tuesday when he fell into a canal at Nobel Street and got washed away through a nearby drainage in the Onibata community, both in the Ogba area of Lagos.
The deceased, who was said to be standing at the edge of drainage at Nobel Street in Ogba reportedly slipped and fell inside the drainage, after which the flood washed him into a canal that led to the Onibata community.
Efforts to retrieve Okoro’s body have so far not been successful, as 20 volunteer members of the family and residents combing the area in a frantic search for Okoro’s body, could not find it.
Ikechukwu, the distraught father, who lamented the loss of his son, said he’s now interested in retrieving his body to enable the family to conduct the final rites as demanded by their tradition.
His words: “We are so sad. We have not been able to report this incident to the authorities because we have been busy looking for the boy. We were more than 50 yesterday (Thursday). I don’t think you can step your feet in the canal. We are yet to find his body.
“There was a lady here that promised that she was going to inform the authority about the incident, but we never heard anything about it since then. What we are now seeking is to see the body and perform our traditional rite.
“From Onibata here, the search has led us to Alagbole. We also went to Akintolu. It was when we got there that the residents in the area told us that the river did not flow to the area and that it diverted somewhere else. We have even extended our search to Kara, hoping to see him, but nothing came out of it.”
Before the incident, a resident of the Onibata community, who spoke on a condition of anonymity, had lamented the danger the canal posed to them after several efforts to get the government’s attention to help the community with a proper drainage system.