There was commotion in the Onipanu area of Lagos, when a commercial water drawer accidentally fell inside a well at Arolahun Street.
The victim, who was simply identified with his nickname, Dongo, slipped and fell into the well while trying to fetch water.
Dongo was known as one of the commercial water drawer, popularly called “mai ruwa,” around Palmgrove and Onipanu, selling water in carts to residents.
A resident of the area, who shared the sad tale with our correspondent, Adewale Kazeem, said that people were alerted about the incident after Dongo fell into the well, and all efforts to bring him out were not successful.
“People raised the alarm about the sad incident, but they couldn’t get him out. Some other people came and entered the well, but they couldn’t find him. The well appears to have no bottom. Some police officers that came to the scene could not do anything. We also called on fire fighters, but I didn’t see them before I left the place. It was really pathetic because he was looking for what to eat before the unfortunate thing befell him,” he said.
Giving his own account of the incident, Kazeem said, “He didn’t know that such a thing would happen. Like every other person, he went to fetch water from the well. It was in the process of fetching that he slipped, and while trying to gain balance, he fell sideways into the well. Immediately, people shouted and able bodied men quickly rushed to the well to save him, but he had drowned inside.”
Another resident of Arolahun Street, Olaleke, said, “We are still wondering why we could not see him in the well since he fell inside it. Even his fellow Hausas that usually dig wells had entered the well but couldn’t find him. What we are now waiting for is for his body to come up later.”
The matter was reported at the Onipanu Police Division and some police officers had visited the scene of the incident.
