03072019 - Buhari's Ruga policy, an explosive issue — SOYINKA

6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, JULY 3, 2019
3 more bodies
recovered, as
Lagos boat
mishap death
toll hits 12
By Olasunkanmi
Akoni
Atotal of 12 bodies involved
in the Saturday's boat
mishap on the Egbin-Badore-
Ijede, Ikorodu, Lagos State,
route have so far been
recovered, leaving about four
others still missing.
General Manager of Lagos
State Waterways Authority,
LASWA, Damilola Emmanuel,
through the Public Affairs
Officer, Nkechi Ajayi,
confirmed the recovery of three
more bodies yesterday, making
it a total of 12 leaving about four
bodies yet to be recovered.
Recall that 16 persons were
feared dead, while a pregnant
woman and two others were
recovered on the second day
of the incident, after a 21-
passenger capacity boat
capsized at about 10p.m. last
Saturday, in Ijede, Ikorodu
Local Government Area of the
state.
According to Emmanuel,
LASWA, Lagos State
Emergency Management
Agency, LASEMA; Lagos
State Ambulance Services,
LASAMBUS, and the Police
had intensified efforts to recover
the remaining bodies.
He said LASEMA had taken
the unclaimed recovered
corpses to the mortuary, while
those whose families were on
ground had been claimed.
Investigations conducted by
LASWA on the tragedy
revealed that the accident was
caused by poor visibility and
the fact that the passengers had
no life jackets.
Meanwhile, following the
high casualties recorded in the
incident, the state government
has vowed to prosecute the
operator of the ill-fated boat.
In a statement, General
Manager of LASWA, Mr.
Oluwadamilola Emmanuel,
lamented that the boat operator
flouted the agency order
barring night operations.
He said the state
government in conjunction
with the Marine Police will
conduct an investigation into
the incident, adding that the
operator of the boat would also
be held accountable.
By Peter Duru
MAKURDI—DEATH toll
from the Benue State petrol
tanker explosion in Ahumbe
village, Gwer East Local
Government Area has risen to 45,
including a pregnant woman and
two children, while 101 others
sustained serious burns.
The state Sector Commander of
Federal Road Safety Corps,
OBEY THE GUN AND BOOTS: Commercial motorcycle riders, okadamen, obey a soldier on Lagos-Badagry
Expressway. PHOTO: Kehinde Gbadamosi.
Flood in Lagos: Families struggle
for sleeping space in toilet
By Evelyn Usman
SOME families at Odubanjo
community in Igando area of
Lagos State now fight for sleeping
space in the toilet, after they were
sacked from their apartments by
flood from a downpour last
Friday.
As at yesterday, some residents,
particularly those at Zone 1
community, under Igando Estate
Phase 3, Community
Development Area, CDA, who
fled their abodes apparently to
forestall any likely disaster, were
yet to return home.
When Vanguard visited the
area, a 50-year-old woman,
Adeoye Abosede, whose property
were destroyed by flood, was seen
in the toilet, where she had been
passing the nights with her child.
Residents said it takes nine days
for flood water to disappear
whenever it rained.
Vanguard observed that refuse
from a dumpsite close to the
community worsened the
flooding as it blocked major
drainage, while some of the
fences that were weakened by the
Adeoye Abosede in her toilet-bedroom
(above) and the flooded area(right)
FRSC, Mr. Aliu Baba, who
confirmed the number of
causalities, said their personnel
have successfully evacuated the
victims to various hospitals.
Giving account of what
happened, Baba said he slept at
the scene with his personnel,
noting that “the ill-fated truck was
loaded with petrol and was on its
way to Makurdi when it lost a tyre
and fell at Ahumbe village.
“Members of the community
rushed to the scene and engaged
themselves in scooping the fuel
that was spilling from the truck.
“They did it for over one hour,
but unfortunately a fully-loaded
18-seater bus was coming from
Oju council of the state, heading
to Makurdi.
“When it got to the scene, the
driver tried to cross to the other
side of the road, using the
flood have started falling.
Fear, according to residents,
always set in whenever the rainy
season approaches, as snakes and
other reptiles usually come out
from the dump site any time it
rained.
Speaking with Vanguard,
Abosede said: “I have been in this
community for the past eight
years with my child. This is how
we have been living here and it’s
affecting my health, including
that of my child.
“Every year, we live in fear
whenever the rainy season
Death toll in Benue petrol tanker explosion rises to 45, 101 injured
shoulder of the road. The exhaust
pipe brushed the ground and
sparked off the fire that quickly
spread to the truck and the huge
explosion that followed spread the
fire farther.
“A second explosion occurred
from the tanker, which affected
two personnel and people that
gathered at the scene including
passengers of other vehicles and
social media journalists.”
approaches. We also go through
hellish moment during the dry
season, as a result of the smell
that emanates from the damp
environment.
“This place is no longer
conducive for us, but we cannot
even afford another place.
Whenever it rained, other women
and I would fight over right of
space in the toilet, but most of the
women allow me to have the toilet
because of my age.
“We sleep in the toilet because
it is built on a higher ground and
outside the main apartments. We
cook and eat here.”
Asked about her husband, she
responded: “I am married, but my
husband is very old. At a point,
he left the house and the
responsibility of taking care of the
children rested on me.
“All the property I moved into
this community with have been
destroyed. For instance, if we go
out to work and it starts raining,
we would be worried over our
property and where to lay our
heads.
“It will end up being a night of
trouble. Whenever we return
home to see our homes flooded,
we go to bed hungry, as there
won’t be any place to cook.”
She appealed to Lagos State
Government to come to their
rescue.
Secretary of the CDA, Mr.
Samuel Ohwerhoye, who said he
had been residing in the area for
over two decades, lamented that
residents had spent money to
channel the flood, but that their
efforts did not bring the desired
result.
He said: “The dumpsite here is
also another problem. It pushes
water back into the community.
We appeal to Governor Sanwo-
Olu to look at our situation and
proffer a solution.”