March 29, (THEWILL) – The family of Madam Ekaette Wilson Okpon, the victim of first rainfall in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, have called on the state government to ensure the recovery of the victim’s body as soon as possible.
THEWILL recalls that a petty trader drowned in an open drainage along Abak Road, by Nkemba Street on Wednesday, March 9, 2022, while the corpse is yet to be recovered.
The kinsmen of the deceased, Ekaete Okpon of Nnung Udo Uweme family in Iboko Offort Village, have demanded that all possible means be adopted to recover the body of their sister for a befitting burial.
The family has also called on the state government to cover up drainages opened in the area during sanitation exercise, over three years ago and others, including a major carnage opened up during the purported search for madam Okpon’s body.
Another trader, a neighbour of the deceased, who narrated Madam Okpon’s ordeal to THEWILL correspondent in Uyo, stated that as a petty trader by Nkemba junction, she stepped into an open gutter during a heavy rain and efforts by onlookers to rescue the drowning woman failed as the heavy flood speedily swept her off sight.
THEWILL also recalls that in reacting to the sad incident, members of her immediate community on Thursday, March 10, had blocked the Nkemba axis of Abak road and demanded, among other things; an immediate recovery of the corpse and replacement of slabs on the gutters.
To return normalcy to the major street, the Ministry of Environment and the Akwa Ibom State Environmental and Waste Management Agency, mobilised for search, with heavy machines and equipment.
The Hon Commissioner for Environment, Sir Charles Udoh, who spent the entire day at the scene of the incident assured that necessary measures were being taken to recover the corpse.
Hon. Prince Ikim, Chairman of the agency, directly in charge of waste management, when contacted, assured that efforts were in place to recover the corpse.
Two weeks down the line, and with Madam Okpon’s corpse still hanging in the drainage, the family has expressed concerns that the search was not just abandoned after the initial effort, but that the gutters were still left open.
Speaking with newsmen who visited the deceased family house in Uyo on Monday, the Secretary of Nnung Udo Uweme family, Mr Otobong Okpon, said the family had expected the state government to promptly cover the drainages to forestall a recurrence, but noted that the drainages were still open.
“The Agency asked what the family and community needed, we asked that the woman’s corpse be recovered for proper burial, and that the gutters should be desilted up and the slabs covered to avoid future occurrences.”
“On Sunday, they sneaked in and evacuated those machines. On Monday we called to find out why that was so, they told us the machines were rented from NigerPet, not from the Ministry or Agency.
“So we called the family head, village head, youth president, and we put heads together and decided to send a letter, inviting the state government to come and have a discussion with us, prominent on our demands was that we needed the corpse recovered for proper burial.
“We also requested that the gutters be desilted up to the big drainage at Nkemba Trough and all the slabs covered back to forestall future occurrences.
“We fixed the meeting last Friday 10am at Iboko village hall (Civic Center Abak Road by Ukana Offort traffic light), the agency called to acknowledge receipt of the letter, but told us the Chairman had travelled to Abuja, so the meeting was postponed to Tuesday ”, he narrated.
Meanwhile, other petty traders by Nwaniba Junction, have appealed to the government of Akwa Ibom State to promptly cover up the gutters and the major carnage opened up during the search, maintaining that the shoddy approach to the situation was rather endangering the lives of others within the locality.
Mr Iniobong Akpan, who also spoke on the matter, advised the state government to engage a drone if it truly desires to recover the corpse.
“If the victim was a politician’s mother, mother in-law, wife or relative, I bet you the corpse would have since been recovered. But look at how they immediately abandon the search. Ride a drone around the ravine, where the gutters terminate, and you would at least be able to recover the corpse”, he reasoned.
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