evening and did not stop until Sunday, residents of Ibadan needed no
prophet to tell them that God was probably angry. But, the cause of
the anger, they may not know. When the rain eventually stopped on
Sunday around 4pm, some houses were already submerged with scores of
those living by the river bank running out of their residence to avoid
being drowned.
Those who did not know the havoc it had wreaked were thanking God that
the rain was not like the one that ravaged the city last August. But
they were soon to know. Even while they were thanking God, the family
members of Iyiola were also troubled having searched fruitlessly for
twoof their children and three other friends. Two policemen from the
Special Anti Robbery Squad who were on leave were among the five
people being searched for.
Though they had been declared missing since Saturday night, the family
members still had a glitter of hope that they would be found. The
family members had earlier warned Sunkanmi and Wole not to go out to
the club because of the rain; besides, time was about 10.30pm. But all
the pleas fell on deaf ears. It seemed the only soundthey wanted to
answer was the one sayingtheir time on earth was over.
By divine providence, the sixth person that should have gone with them
reportedly changed his mind and said he would come in his own car.
About an hour later, the family members became suspicious that
something tragic had happened when theymade calls to the deceased
persons phones and got no response. The sixth person was said to have
got to the 411 Club that they said they were going to but did not
find them there.
It was later discovered that the deceased persons changed their minds
and went to another club along Ring Road. Having searched everywhere
without their traces, the family members reported to the police who
swung into action searching all the nooks and crannies for them.
After several efforts, they recovered the car they went out in Favour
Canal, Ikolaba but could not find any of them inside. On Tuesday, in
the morning, the police had a breakthrough. They found the bodies of
three of the victims' floating on Dandaru Dam. Tears flowed freely as
hundreds of sympathizers that thronged the scene beheld the victims
bloated bodies.
When the families of the deceased persons came, weeping became
contagious. The relatives found it difficult to identify the bodies.
An official of the National Emergency Management Agency tutored them
on how to identify the bodies.He told them to look out for tattoos,
for those who had it on their bodies, rings, among other things. As
soon as some of them saw tattoos on the shoulders of the bodies, they
wept uncontrollably with someof them rolling on the ground.
When Sunday Vanguard saw a woman thatcalled herself the mother of two
of the victims whose bodies were recovered, she declined comments,
saying it would be awkward to grant interview on the death ofher sons.
She broke down in tears.
Mrs. Bunmi Qudus, an elder sister of Sunkanmi and Wole Iyiola, managed
to speak some words. She looked blank as her lips moved slowly.
She said, "They were five in the car. They left home around 10.30pm on
Saturday. They were probably coming from the club when their car fell
inside the flood. They have only brought three out of the river. We
have not seen the remaining two. We live at Oluwo nla in Bashorun area
of the city. They came from Lagos. They didn't know the Ibadan
terrain. They were coming from the club".
More pathetic was the case of Wole Iyiola who was said to have got
married 11 days before the disaster. How would the new bride take the
twist in her life", a relation asked rhetorically?
The younger sister of the deceased refused to be consoled. "Ah, you
should have listened when we were warning you not to go to the club.
See the grief you have caused us. How can two children of the same
mother die like this? Their father died when they were young. We told
them not to go out. Iyiola(dead father), it seems you are sleeping in
heaven", the sister lamented.
She then took her phone and dialed a number telling the person at the
other end they had found the two victims. Dead. "Please, let me see
them". As she surged forward, other relatives standing by stopped her.
While speaking on the incident, the Oyo State Police Public Relations
Officer, DSP Olabisi Ilobanafor, said they could only identify two of
the victims. They identified the one that had tattoos on both
shoulders and the other by his wristwatch.
She said on Saturday, July 14, there was a downpour and at about
10.30am on Sunday, "a relative of the victims, DamilolaOlasupo,
informed the command that a group of five young men were on their
wayto the club. But, after they called them on phone, they could not
contact them. They wanted to go to 411 Club but later changedtheir
mind and went to Bubbles along Ring Road".
Continuing, she said, "On Sunday, a searchparty was raised. The
search party found the three bodies at Dandaru and informedus. We
called the State Emergency Management Agency, and the Fire Service.We
have recovered the three bodies.
"They are Sergeant Ojo Adelusi from Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Wole
Iyiola and Sunkanmi Iyiola. We are still looking for Ope and Sunday
Ijebo. We will go back to where the vehicle fell into the river. It
fell at Tewogbade Bridge at Bodija. We later got the vehicle at Favour
Canal, Bodija".
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