Paul Osuyi, Asaba
The melancholic atmosphere at Alibioba community in Agbor, Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State tells a story of grief. Men, women and a handful of youths gathered in small groups. Hisses and sighs are the only sounds emanating from the subdued tunes as the forlorn faces with hands akimbo moved around the compound of the Okwuokenyes. The family had just been hit by tragedy. Two of their sons, 15-year-old Testimony and 11-year-old Godwin were swept away by ravaging flood which resulted from torrential rains penultimate Thursday.
Testimony, a JSS 1 student of Agbor Technical College had dared to step into the furious flood to rescue his brother Godwin, a primary 5 pupil of Alibioba Primary School, who had inadvertently fallen into a gutter filled with rampaging flowing water. Having seized the victims, the flood swept them into a very deep gully located beside UBE Primary School in the community, a development that complicated rescue efforts, as no one dared step into the water because of its flowing force. In the end, the devastating flood deposited the lifeless body of Testimony under a truck parked at Uromi Junction along the Benin-Asaba-Onitsha expressway. He was rushed to the hospital where medics confirmed him dead. Godwin’s corpse was found the next day.
Regrettably, the victims did not get acquainted with their mother before she was said to have passed on about ten years ago. In fact, Godwin was said not to have sucked the mother’s breasts as she reportedly died shortly after his birth.
Grief too heavy to bear
For the father of the deceased teenagers, Chosen Godday Okwuokenye, a pastor, the tragedy is too heavy to bear. He may have had a premonition about the incident but he never thought his family members would be victims.
Pastor Okwuokenye, a native of Idumu-Ikeze, Mbiri town in neighbouring Ika North East Local Government of the state, said he concluded a prayer session during the period of the downpour and went to bed to relax but eventually slept off.
His words: “That day, Thursday, I went to our garden with my Children, Testimony and Godwin. When we discovered that the weather was changing, threatening to rain, we rushed home. When we got home, it was already drizzling and both of them carried some basins to gather water. After that, I told them to go inside, and I went inside to pray. After praying I slept off, when I woke up and discovered that both of them were not in the house, I started looking for them. I went to the backyard and saw kettle on the burner with water.
“And I continued looking for them, as I went out to the front of my house, just a pole after my house I met a small boy, and he said, ‘are you Testimony’s father?’ I said yes, he said flood has swept the two of them away. “He said Godwin fell into the gutter and Testimony wanted to rescue him, but the water carried the two of them. So, I ran quickly, getting to the road near Alibioba Primary School by Uromi junction, I saw that people had gathered round the lifeless body of Testimony.
“But the body was still warm, so I rushed him to the central hospital where the two doctors at the emergency ward confirmed him dead. I returned his corpse. But didn’t see the body of Godwin till the next day around 10am. I didn’t send them on any errand.” The cleric said though it was difficult coping without the children, he has to make his “heart strong because as a minister of God, the bible says that David encourages himself in the Lord. “I have encouraged many people in different situations, I have to encourage myself to cope because any man that discourages himself has no hope of leaving for tomorrow.” He confirmed that the mother of the boys had died over a decade ago shortly after giving birth to Godwin, lamenting that the younger victim did “not suck the breast of his mother because after giving birth to him, she gave up the ghost.”
Routine deaths by flood
Investigation revealed that Testimony and Godwin were not the first victims of gully erosion in the community as a result of bad road. A resident who spoke with our correspondent said the gullies on the road have claimed several lives in the past. Even the distraught Pastor Okwuokenye confirmed that it has become a routine for flood to sweep people away in the community, adding that several others have been rendered homeless as the unrelenting disaster continues to ravage homes and property of residents.
“Many have died, many have been injured. Those that were lucky were rescued. Last year, two children also died as a result of flood. The erosion has killed many people in this community and not to talk about people it renders homeless. “It is very painful. Look at my house here and see where flood carried my children, just close to my house. Children with bright future. If this gully erosion has been attended to, this incident would have been averted,” he sobbed.
The premonition
As a pastor in one of the branches of an old generation Pentecostal church, Okwuokenye said he had a premonition, two months ago, about the incident but never thought that the devastating arrow was directed towards his family. He said when he had the revelation, he led his congregation in spiritual warfare possibly to avert the impending doom, concluding that God knew the best.”In my revelation, I saw myself going to church and my bible and my sword which I was holding fell inside the flood, the flood carried my bible and my sword, and I said how can flood carry my bible and sword.
“I dived into the flood and took my bible and my sword, and I said devil you cannot cheat me. I was able to swim out of the flood and got into the church. That was two months ago”, he stated.
Community wants gully erosion tackled
Reacting to the incident, the chairman of landlords/landladies association in the community, Mr. Chukwuyem Odia said the entire community was in great pain over the loss of the teenagers to the devastating gully erosion.
Odia said people have been dying due to the flood menace over the years, adding that efforts to draw attention of government at all levels to address the issue have not yielded the desired results. He said sometimes “ officials come here to survey with a promise that they will mobilise to come and address the gully erosion site but we don’t usually get to see them again. They don’t come back and the problem remains unsolved.”
Odia said there was little or nothing the community can do in terms of self help to address the issue, pointing out that the enormity of the gully erosion was way beyond the capacity of the association and individuals in the community. He appealed to both the local, state and federal governments, corporate organisations as well as international donor agencies to come to the aid of Alibioba community so as to adequately tackle the menace of flooding in the area.