A tragic incident has claimed the life of a three-year-old boy, Chibuike Uba, who reportedly fell into an uncovered soakaway pit at Babarinsa, located in the Ibeju Lekki area of Lagos State.
According to reports, the event occurred on Wednesday while the boy’s mother, Utoro, was visiting her aunt in the neighbourhood.
Sources indicated that Utoro, who lives in the Epe axis of the state, was gathering her belongings in preparation to leave when her son wandered off to meet her aunt, who had stepped outside to take a phone call.
Upon the aunt’s return, Uba inquired about her child, only to discover he was missing.
In the course of a desperate search, Uba came across her son’s slippers lying near an open soakaway in the adjacent compound and immediately raised an alarm.
In a voice note sent to our correspondent on Thursday, the grieving mother recounted, “I visited my aunt and was packing my bags to head back home when she received a call and my son followed her outside. I continued packing, assuming he was still with her. When she came back inside, I asked about my son’s whereabouts, and she claimed he had returned inside. I said no and quickly rushed outside to search for him but couldn’t find him.
“That was when I noticed his slippers near the soakaway on the next compound beside the house because it has no fence. I immediately shouted that my baby was inside the soakaway. That was how we quickly made efforts to pull him out and rushed him to the hospital.”
She said Chibuike was taken to a nearby hospital in the Sapati area, but was later referred to the General Hospital in Akodo.
There, he was placed on oxygen, but the doctors on duty eventually declared him dead.
Utoro blamed the property owner for the incident, alleging that her aunt had repeatedly warned him to secure the soakaway but he failed to act.
“My aunt called the man and said she had repeatedly warned him to close the soakaway, but he kept promising to. Even the plank that my aunt used to cover it was damaged by the flood. As I speak to you, the soakaway is still open.”
PUNCH Metro could not independently verify this allegation, as efforts to obtain the landlord’s contact details were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, a human rights advocate and founder of the Harmony Advocacy Network, Harmony Tachie, told our correspondent on Thursday that the landlord does not reside within the community.
“We have been unable to reach the landlord because he does not stay in the area. We are also trying to ensure that the incident is reported at the police station to get justice,” she said.
PUNCH Metro had earlier reported in November 2024 that a 10-year-old boy, Obinna Okoro, drowned in floodwaters along Liasu Road, Idimu, in the Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State.
That tragedy happened during a heavy rainfall experienced in the area on a Sunday.
It was reported that Okoro and his younger sister were walking on a pathway near the Juba Alaro end of the road as they returned from church when he slipped and fell into an uncovered drainage opening. The strong flood current swept him away.
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