It was a tragic end of the year for residents of 23, Idowu Street, Ilaje Bariga in Lagos State as three children fell into a septic tank last Wednesday, leaving one of them dead.
Two of the children, 10-year-old Samad and nine-year-old Abdulrahman, were however lucky, as they survived the mishap.
The body of the deceased four-year-old boy, Taofeek, was reportedly recovered about an hour after he fell into the septic tank.
The deceased was said to be the younger brother to one of the survivors, Abdulrahman, whose parents were not at home when the incident happened.
Though there were two conflicting reports of what the children were doing on the septic tank, residents of the house said that there were no signs that it was going to collapse soon.
One of the reports had it that the three children were playing on the septic tank when one of them jumped up and landed heavily, resulting in its caving in.
Another account of the report had it that the landlady had sent one of the children to go and help her to pack the sand on the septic tank when the two others joined him.
One of the granddaughters of the landlady who pleaded anonymity while speaking with Metro said: “I was not around when the accident happened but what I was told that the children were playing on the septic tank when the incident happened.”
The granddaughter, who described the incident as mysterious, also stated that even adults climbed on the septic tank to spread their clothes after washing.
Samad’s mother, while speaking at a private clinic where her son was receiving treatment, stated that her son disclosed that she was running an errand for the landlady when the incident occurred.
Samad’s father who also spoke with Metro stated that the septic tank was not faulty prior to the incident.
The father also absolved the landlady of any complicity in the death of the deceased child as he said that his own son was always running errand for the landlady.
“People used to call Samad the landlady’s son because he used to run errand for the woman and she used to give him money,” the father said.
The image maker in charge of the state police command, Dolapo Badmos confirmed the incident to Metro.
She also stated that nobody was arrested in connection with the death because preliminary investigations by the police revealed that it was just an accident case.
Meanwhile, a director with the ANN PLC, publishers of Tribune titles, Chief Bayo Fadoju, has offered a scholarship up to the University level to Samad.
The Tribune Director, who was at the hospital for medical checkup when he heard about the incident, promised to assist with the boy’s education from his present Primary 4 to university level.
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