Officials of the Kwara Fire Service, yesterday, discovered the body of a new-born baby during a desilting process at the Unity Road axis of Asa River.
Director of the service, Abdulwaheed Yakub, who disclosed this, said it was unfortunate that a new-born baby could be dumped in a river.
He said that the desilting process was part of efforts to prevent possible flooding at the river.
Yakub said the agency, had mapped out flood prevention and disaster risk reduction plans in Ilorin, with a view to avoiding possible flood disaster ravaging the city in the coming weeks.
He warned the city could be open to distortion of movement and overflow of the river, if urgent action was not taken as more heavy rain is anticipated.
He said that the fire service had started evacuating all dirts and debris in the river.
Yakub, however called on the state government to provide adequate equipment to help the agency tackle the situation, stating the agency had resolved to keep the city away from flood associated risk.
He called on residents of the state to desist from dumping refuse in the river, adding that residents of flood-prone areas should observe safety standards to minimize casualties in event of flooding.
“It’s highly regrettable that people dump all sorts of things inside the river to the extent of dumping a new born baby; a baby some have been looking for
“We must be our brother’s keeper by not dumping refuse in the river, because as you are clearing your own area, you are destroying other people’s area,” Yakub said.
Yakub called for collaboration among agencies in charge of environment, planning and security to stop the dumping of refuse at critical areas of the metropolis.