Four yet-to-be-identified schoolchildren were allegedly trapped in an open drainage in the early hours of Tuesday in the Gbagada area of Lagos State.
This medium learnt that the four children were attempting to cross the flooded expressway in the area when the water swept them into the open drainage.
However, three of the children were said to have been rescued from the canal, while the last of them had yet to be removed from the drainage as of the time this report was filed.
In a 22-second Instagram post by @mygbagada, a social media handle for the residents of the community, an eyewitness could be heard saying, “I don’t know what the story is exactly, but I think either a secondary school or primary school child fell into this express drainage.”
“Four children reportedly fell into the drain at the Gbagada expressway this morning because water had filled the drain pipe. From the report, three of them have been taken out while one is still stuck inside the canal,” stated an accompanying post.
Other residents on the page, while commending the state government for the work it had done on a part of the express road, pleaded for an expedited construction of a pedestrian bridge and the covering of the canal to prevent such a mishap in the future.
@yoomsvittles stated, “This is bad. We appreciate the government’s road down, but please help us complete it by covering part of the canal.”
@Ifeanyigp noted, “That Gbagada Bus-stop is long overdue for a pedestrian bridge. So many fatal accidents have occurred there. Now, it’s down the drain. We need to press the government to erect a bridge there ASAP.”
“The force of the water is heavy. My car had an experience on Friday,” @adeshina.bl added.
When contacted, the state police public relations officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, simply said the police were not aware of the incident.
Reacting, the spokesperson for the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nosa Okunbor, who could not confirm the incident on Tuesday, said he would make inquiries.
“Let me make my inquiry. I don’t have the details now. Even when I get there, I will need to clear with my PS,” he simply said.
However, journalists had yet to receive any information from the LASEMA spokesperson on the incident as of the time this report was filed.
