- Two young children from the Okunade family tragically lost their lives in a river in Ibadan, Oyo state
- A family member recounted the events leading up to the incident, and the river’s hidden dangers
- Efforts to recover the children had challenges and delays that gripped the family and neighbours
The Okunade family of Apete and Lakoto in Ibadan was plunged into mourning on Sunday, December 28, as two young children from the family drowned in the Odo-Ona River in the Apete area of Ibadan, Oyo state capital.
Source: UGC
Abdullahi (15 years) and Rasheed (11 years) were said to have visited the river on that fateful day before the sad incident occurred.
Legit.ng correspondent gathered that one of the children, Abdullah, was the son of a couple who live with speech disabilities.
In an exclusive session with Legit.ng in Ibadan, an elder of the family, Alhaji Abduljeleel Okunade, said the deceased children, Abdullahi and Rasheed, were said to have been regular visitors to the river before the day they drowned, but without the knowledge of their parents.
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Alhajji Okunade, who lived at Lakoto, about two kilometres away from Apete, said he, as the elder in the family, was never informed of the children’s action “until things get bad,” not minding the fact that he was frequent at their residence in Apete.
“The fathers of the two children are my younger brothers from the same father and mother. Abdullahi was in SS2. They were regular visitors to the Odo-Ona river, where they went to fish and swim.”
“Their elder brothers would beat them, but I was never informed.”
“But, on that fateful Sunday, after I arrived from Ijtima’ and went to Apata, here in Ibadan. Upon my arrival from Apata, I was informed that Abdullah and Rahseed had drowned in the Odo-Ona River at Apete.”
“On getting there, I met their shoes and clothes at the riverbank. Many people had gathered. On getting to the river, you will be looking at it as if it could not reach your shin, but if you move a little, it is very deep. We cried and sought help from the Hausa (people), who we believed had the expertise.”
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“Upon agreeing on a payment of 20,000. Upon searching, they sank a bamboo pole of about 30 feet, and we could not see it. That was when we knew that there was a very deep part in the river. The Hausa (people) tried but could not bring them out.”
Having tried without result on Sunday, Alhajji Okunade told our reporter that they left the river and came back on Monday, December 29.
As if telling a fiction, the Okunade patriarch said,
“Upon getting to the river on Monday, we saw one of them floating. It was then that we went to call the fishermen, who brought their canoe to bring out the boys’ dead bodies.”
Source: Original
Fire Service of Oyo State not reachable
When asked if they reached out to the Fire Service, Alhajji Okunade explained that:
“We called the firefighters, but they were not reachable. You know, as commoners, there is a limit to which we understand.”
“The event had happened at around 1:30 pm, but we were not informed until about 4 pm.”
Though Yoruba custom demands that those who died in the river should be buried by the riverside, Alhajji Okunade said:
“As for Abdullahi, who is my younger brother’s son, we refused to bury him by the riverside but at the cemetery according to Islamic principles; the other boy, Rasheed, was, however, buried by the riverside.”
Ogun student drowns, school riot injures teachers
In a related development, Legit.ng reported that a secondary school student at Ilugun High School, Elega in Abeokuta, Ogun state, drowned while fleeing the Amotekun Corps during a protest over an alleged illegal school fee.
Witnesses said the protest began after students objected to the fee; the arrival of Amotekun made many run in different directions, with some jumping into a nearby river, where one, identified as Babalola, drowned.
Angered by the death, students reportedly returned and attacked teachers and vandalised classrooms, hurling stones and removing window frames in a violent school riot that followed the tragedy.