BY EBUN SESSOU & ANOZIE EGOLE

One of the areas that witnessed the plague of rainstorm which took place on Monday February 13, in Lagos was the Ojo community area of Otto Awori local government where lives were shattered and properties destroyed.

The pathetic scenario in the place was the lives of some school children that perished in the water while others are still missing.

A visit to the area revealed that  a total number of  17 primary school pupils of St Mary’s Nursery and Primary School who perished inside the  Shibiri Ekunpa river in a ferry heading to a neighbouring community, alongside two women.
There were two other students of Goodness Comprehensive High School who lost to their lives to the whirlwind.

Giving an account of what happened, the headmistress of the school, Adejoke Makinde, said   seventeen children were in the ferry where 10 children  perished in the Shibiri Ekunpa river. According to her, five children were rescued while two others are still missing.  One of the women who also survived.

...one of the effects of the rainstorm

Four of the children were from the same parents. They were Mistura Hassan, Fausat Hassan,  Ayisat Hassan, Afisat Hassan, Michael Eniola, Tope Rufai,, Abigail Aminu, Muyibi Oniru, Nofisat Aminu and Aminat Tijani. One of the survivors was Mrs. Hassan, a woman who is also the wife of the Baale in the community.

Narrating her story, she said, “I was going to the nearby community for my business, I never knew that such devastating thing would happen in this part of the world.

“We were in the middle of the water when we witnessed the whirlwind, it was as if there was going to be a heavy downpour, only for us to see ourselves drowned in the water.

According to her, “some school children who were in the boat with us lost their lives while some are still missing.”
For the students, teachers, headmistress of the school and the entire community, the sad story had left pain and distress in them.

The mood in the entire community and the school in particular was that of anguish as it was  difficult to control the situation.

Some of the children whose lives were lost were below 12 years of age. They left their various homes for school wishing to come back to their families, unfortunately, they didn’t.

Speaking with a member of the Agbede Ojo Boat Operators who claimed anonymity, he said  the boat capsized when it was almost at the river shore and that the passengers were not wearing their life jackets which could perhaps save them from drowning.

…Rainstorm rendered Jakande residents homeless
Another part of Lagos that the rainstorm wrecked was Jakande Estate area of Ejigbo local government. A particular building with block number 331 flats 5 and 6 had its entire roof pulled out by the wind.

An occupant of flat 6, Mrs  Ogundipe, whose family is currently at her mother in-law’s narrated to Saturday Vanguard how her home was wrecked by Monday’s wind.

She said, “ I was already on my way to work when  the rain began. Immediately, I called my husband to find out the situation of things at home  because whenever it is raining and windy , it usually floods our apartment through the louvers. And when the wind went out f control, I called him again to find out the situation of things, unfortunately, I couldn’t reach him.

“Then, I rushed home, only to find my husband outside  in his boxers with our daughter in her uniform. When I asked what the matter was, he said the whole roof had pulled out .

“He told me he was in the bathroom when the wind became violent and immediately rushed to the sitting room where our daughter was playing. From the way the whole building was vibrating, he became afraid .

He said he noticed the wind pull the roof up and he ran with the baby to our bed room where he saw the roof at the verge of pulling off.  “He then ran to the other bedrooms where the same thing was happening. In his confused state, he ran to the toilet and found out that the roof there was still intact and decided to remain there.

On his way to the sitting room where the entire building was vibrating, he discovered that the whole roof had pulled out. Even when he tried to open the door to escape with our baby, the force of the wind did no allow him. He had to struggle for a while before the door eventually opened and he ran out, not bothering to take shelter with neighbours in the middle and first floor, because he thought the whole building was about to cave in.

Mrs Ogundipe said that she had always cautioned her husband from closing the bathroom which hitherto helped when this particular incident occurred.

“I have always told my husband not to close the bathroom  whenever he was bathing, at least that would help him keep an eye on our baby. Had he shut the door he would not have known how violent the wind was and perhaps would not have heard when the roof pulled off,which would have posed danger in her marriage.
For Mr Olowoyemi, a retiree of Federal Mortgage Bank, the sudden whirlwind had not only brought  havoc to his family but also left them with unbudgeted expenses.

“I was in the sitting room when I suddenly saw that the whole place went dark. I had wanted to go to Ikeja where I was to attend a course but decided to wait.  Just then , before my eyes, the roof was blown off . I was  just with my wife and one of our children. Then, we started praying believing that the nothing would happen. All of sudden the wind became violent that we thought the building would collapse. So, we decided to run for our lives, we rushed into neighbour’s flat in flat 3 and there we were unto the wind stopped.

Mrs Nwogu who also suffered the same fate said, the wind  did not come as a surprise as she had experienced similar incident since she started living in the estate.