According to punchng.com there was anger on Thursday morning on the Apata Street, Somolu area of Lagos after a nine-year-old child, identified as Riliwan, fell into a soakaway and died. Riliwan, 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.
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. People rallied round and tried draining the water in the soakaway, before they were able to bring him out. But he had died,” he added.
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. Read more punchng.com
