Posted by By Abiodun Onafuye/ Ijebu-Ode on
'I would have preferred to die, than witness this ugly incident in my life.' This was the sad remarks of a single parent, Mrs. Owolabi, 46, who lost two children, Ayomide, 2, and Ibrahim, 15, in two days.
'I would have preferred to die, than witness this ugly incident in my life.' This was the sad remarks of a single parent, Mrs. Owolabi, 46, who lost two children, Ayomide, 2, and Ibrahim, 15, in two days.
The first tragedy struck om Monday, last week, at Poka town via Epe in Eredo Local Council Development Area of Lagos State, when the younger child, Ayomide, died in an accident which occurred on the road near their residence in Poka.
He was trying to cross the road with his brother when a vehicle overran him and the driver sped off.
The Following day, the second child, Ibrahim, it was learnt, drowned in a soak-away pit at Ilese-Ijebu, in Ijebu North-East Local Government Area of Ogun State, where he was learning a trade as a rewinder.
Ibrahim was said to have died in the house owned by a man called Alfa Aransi. When P.M.News visited Ilese, Aransi's wife said: 'Ibrahim is like my brother because his father is my uncle and when his father brought him on Sunday, 31 August, to our house, my husband told me he would be staying with us.
'On this fateful day, that is Tuesday, 2 September, exactly the third day he arrived, my husband had gone for a job outside with some of his apprentices, leaving Ibrahim at the workshop.
'I also left for a programme nearby and told Ibrahim to look after my three children who are younger than him. When I returned, I asked about his whereabouts and the children could not say where he was. I quickly called my husband on phone and he rushed home and we started looking for him until we saw his slippers beside the open soak-away pit. It was raining that day, and we saw Ibrahim dead inside.'
The incident was reported at the Atan Police Station, Irunwon-Ijebu, before the boy was removed from the soak-away pit and deposited at the General Hospital Mortuary, Ijebu-Ode. The deceased had since been buried.
A source told our correspondent that the mother of the children is now lying critically ill at the General Hospital, Epe, as a result of the shock she suffered following the death of her children. When our correspondent visited her at the emergency ward of the General Hospital, Epe, families, friends and sympathisers were seen discussing the tragedy.
A woman, who identified herself as Iya Ibeji, said: 'I don't understand this kind of thing, What happened to Iya Keji (the woman ) is very strange to me. I have not experienced it in my life. I suspect that something went wrong somewhere, but for now, we are praying for her to recover from the shock.'
P.M.News gathered that the woman had divorced her husband and that the two children were from different fathers.