When Abdulfatah Ayoola laid his
hands on and prayed for Fawad, his son, he never knew that would be his last
time of doing so. In the six years that the deceased spent on earth, the father
prayed for him regularly but hardly had the request come from the boy.
Fawad got to school, cheered his
classmates and settled down for the day’s teaching without knowing it was his
last day on earth. By 2pm, his corpse was retrieved from the rubble of the
building that collapsed in the Ita-Faaji area of Lagos Island.
The three-storey building had a
school inside it. When Akinwunmi Ambode, the governor, visited the scene, he
said the school operated illegally. Residents also said the collapsed building
had been marked for demolition and the occupants given notice to quit.
 |
| A school bag in rubble at the scene of collapsed building |
But all these mean nothing to the
families of Ayoola and all those who lost loved ones in the incident.
“He woke up late for school
today. After taking his breakfast, he requested for money but I told him
there’s no need for money since he has his lunch with him. Then he said,
‘daddy, pray for me before I go’, and I
did exactly as he requested. He walked to school which is just few metres from
the house,” Ayoola said fighting back tears.
Neighbours had assembled in his
two-room apartment. As the men in the living room consoled him, the voice of
women crying in the inner room echoed into the living room. It was an
atmosphere of gloom.
 |
| An aged woman rescued by LASEMA officials |
The man of the house broke down
in tears, narrating how he contemplated enrolling Fawad in another school but
did not go ahead with the plan because his late son was rounding off his
primary education.
“I visited Kings’ College not too
long and liked the academic atmosphere. and I was assured that an interview
date will be communicated to me soon but now I can’t take him there anymore
because Fawad is gone.
 |
| LASEMA rescue team at the scene |
“God gives and take, we cannot
question Him. All I need to do now is pray for him, console the mother, I know
of a family who lost four of their children in the building, what will be their
fate? Praise be to Allah for everything.”
Fawad has been buried at the
Ikoyi cemetery in accordance with Islamic rites.
It was gathered that the school
had over 120 pupils. Of this figure, nine have been confirmed dead, some
rescued and taken to the hospital while many are still trapped.
Officials of the Lagos State
Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) and other rescue agency were still at the
scene our coreesepndent left the place at 8pm on Wednesday.
Ambode has promised that a
full-scale investigation would be carried out but for now many are counting
their losses.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com