Weekend Tragedy: Man loses four sons as mudslide pulls down building

BY TESSY IGOMU, OLAKUNLE OLAFIOY and SIJIBOMI OYEDEPO

Four children of the same parents died Sat­urday morning when a building collapsed on its occupants while they were sleeping.

The incident, Sunday Sun learnt, happened at about 4.50 am when mudslide which was washed down by yesterday‘s early morning rain collapsed on part of the three bedroom bungalow apartment located at No 50 Otun Araromi Street, Orisa-Magodo, behind Ma­godo Phase I.

The mudslide collapsed on the children’s room and sub­merged the four who were still sleeping when the inci­dent happened. None of the children survived the tragedy. They had all died in the debris before rescue assistance could come.

The victims included 23-year-old Sayo Odia, Clin­ton Odia (13), Dasilva Odia (15), and Endurance Odia (10), all children of Mr. Okeoseye Odia. Sayo, the eldest of the four children, was said to be preparing for the Joint Admis­sion and Matriculation Exami­nation (JAMB) next year

Mr. Odia’s two wives, Sun­day Sun learnt, lost children each in the incident. Although ten members of the family were said to be in the house at the time of the incident, seven of them escaped with varying degrees of injuries as the mud­slide only affected the chil­dren’s apartment.

The survivors included: the father of the deceased children, his two wives, one of who was said to have been hospitalized and three other younger chil­dren who slept in a separate room. As Sunday Sun gath­ered, the other two lucky chil­dren were said to be in school when the incident happened.

The chairman, Otun Araro­mi Community Development Association, Mr Oshinyokun Olowo, told Sunday Sun that members of the community mobilized immediately the in­cident happened and recovered corpse of one of the children before the arrival of govern­ment agencies.

The Lagos State Fire Ser­vice, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASE­MA) and Nigerian Police from Magodo and Isheri Police sta­tions, it was learnt, responded quickly to the emergency.

According to LASEMA boss, four dead bodies were re­covered after digging through the sand.

The General Manager of LASEMA, Mr. Micheal Akin­dele, who described the inci­dent as unfortunate, said that government would not relent on its advocacy and sensitiza­tion campaign to ensure that people living in flood prone areas take precautionary mea­sures especially in areas where topography is a low line.

Similar tragedy was averted when another mudslide oc­curred some six plots away from the site of the first inci­dent at about 10.05 am. No ca­sualty was, however, recorded in the second building.

The four recovered bodies have since been buried at a cemetery in the community.

But for the vigilance of his neighbours who pursued and restrained him, the bereaved father, yesterday made spirited attempts to plunge into a near­by canal following the death of his four sons.

When Sunday Sun visited the scene of the incident yester­day, the obviously distraught father of nine was apparently hysterical about the fate that had befallen his household while he was narrating his or­deal. “I thought God would even spare one of them for me. But they came to tell me that none of them is alive. I am finished! Four sons at a time! I was preparing to go to work when I heard the sound. By the time I came out of the room to check, my four sons had been submerged,” he lamented

Meanwhile, residents of Otun Araromi community have blamed the incident on residents of Magodo Phase 1 Estate whom they claimed channeled a major drainage from the estate into their com­munity.

Speaking in an interview with Sunday Sun, Chairman Otun- Araromi, Mr. Oshin­yokun Olowo, accused the res­idents of Magodo Phase 1 Es­tate of channeling water from the estate into their community, which he claimed was respon­sible for the incident. “The people up there, (residents of Magodo Estate) caused the problem. They diverted all the waters from the estate into our community because they are rich and they feel they can op­press us,” he said.

Reacting to the allegation, Alhaji Olaiya Oladeji, a com­munity leader in the estate, denied the allegation against residents of Magodo Estate. According to him, “Residents of the Otun Araromi are re­sponsible for this problem. They are in the habit of dig­ging the sand behind the estate to extend their land in order to expand their buildings. Most of the buildings you see in the community started with fewer rooms, but majority of them have extended their buildings by reclaiming more space from the area behind them.”

Nigerian tribune