Benin city residents protest death of infant in flood

ANGRY residents of Oro street, Benin yesterday trooped out to protest the death of a six year old boy who was swept away by flood water following a heavy downpour on Monday.

The protesters, mostly youths vowed to continue their street protest until the remains of the boy are recovered and given proper burial.

They chanted solidarity songs, blocking the busy Benin-Lagos expressway with bonfires and vandalized several sign boards of the Edo State Government.

The infant who was simply identified as Segun and his mother whose name was given as Latifat were heading home after school hours when they slipped and fell into an open drainage at the Omosogie junction along Bénin-Uselu road.

According to an eye witness who gave only his first name, Kehinde, it was the bravery of a young Hausa scavenger who took a great risk that saved the woman but her boy was not lucky as he was carried away by the rampaging flood water.

Kehinde added: “I quickly jumped inside the gutter but the boy was already gone. We have searched everywhere but we did not see the body.”

The missing infant was scheduled for graduation ceremony to primary school from kindergarten this week.

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The protesters charged that the state government has not sent its officials to help find the body of the pupil since the in occurred.

Their spokesman, Mr. Oni Enoma, described the drainage as a death trap and a nightmare to residents whenever it rains.

He said they would leave the streets if the state government began moves to cover to drainage.

He said: “A woman and her baby fell into a death trap they called gutter. It was an Hausa man that dragged the woman out but the baby fell inside. but we have not been able to find the body of the boy.

“We were surprised that nothing has been done by the fire fighters and the state government to find the body. We want the Commissioner of Works to come and cover the drainage or we will not stop this protests. We want them to cover that death trap.

He said, “This is part of the N30billion water storm project. We blocked the road to make the government come and recover the body.”