How boy, 14, drowned in Maiduguri river

His bosom friend and namesake, Ibrahim Umaru, who was the last known person who spoked with him on that fateful day, told Kanem Trust that the deceased tried to convince him to accompany him to the river by the Maiduguri Lagos bridge, to wash his clothes but despite his pleas, he refused. “He then asked […]

His bosom friend and namesake, Ibrahim Umaru, who was the last known person who spoked with him on that fateful day, told Kanem Trust that the deceased tried to convince him to accompany him to the river by the Maiduguri Lagos bridge, to wash his clothes but despite his pleas, he refused.

“He then asked me to lend him N50 to pay for a commercial motorcycle to the river. I still refused. He insisted that I should accompany him instead. As we started off, I changed my mind and chose not to go. At home, they sought to know his whereabouts but I refused to tell them because he pleaded with me not to disclose to anyone that he had gone to the river,”  little Umaru said.

“Later in the evening, I went in search of him at the riverside, but he was not there. I then decided to go back home, but still refused to tell his mother that he had gone to the river. The whole family searched for him everywhere…” narrated his bosom friend amid sobs.

Unknown to his family and friend who searched all over for him unsuccessfully, he had drowned and was likely to have spent the night beneath the water.

Rescuers and sympathizers told our correspondent that a 10-year-old boy discovered the body and raised alarm. At the time our correspondent visited the scene, it was observed that his chest and parts of his stomach were swollen. His arm and legs appeared stiff too.  Blood was oozing from his nose and there were no other injuries or mutilations on his body.

Abubakar Ibrahim, an uncle of the deceased who said it was the first time his late nephew ever went to the river, said he was just passing when he noticed a crowd beneath the bridge. “I went to find out what was happening because we were still searching for my nephew who had been missing since the previous day. When I got there, I discovered it was him and informed other family members,” he narrated.

As the body of the deceased lay by the riverside, it was observed that one of his blue bathroom slippers was slung around the elbow of his left arm. One onlooker suggested that he could have been trying to walk through the water and got stuck in deep portions; and probably because he could not swim, he got caught up and got drowned.

The onlooker’s suggestion was corroborated when a young man, found to be one of the regular patrons testified seeing the deceased around the river the previous day. According to him, the deceased pulled off his clothes just below the bridge at the bank of the river by the side overseeing the Government Reserved Area (GRA).

And while everyone waited for the body to be evacuated by the police from the Gwange Divisional Police station, who took a long time to arrive, despite calls and a visit to their office, two other adolescents were noticed walking through the same path where late Ibrahim was reported to have drowned.

Sympathizers around lamented the frequency and magnitude with which a lot  of children frequent the area, staying out there as late as 10pm; and wondered if their parents knew where they were or cared at all.

Others blamed authorities, saying in the past, men of the National Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSDC), the Boys Scout, Man ‘O’ War and other paramilitary organizations were drafted to the area. They said these security officials always seized the clothes of children found swimming in the dirty water. Those caught, they said, were always punished to deter others. But now, there is no one to keep vigil.

At some times in the past, Kanem Trust reported that suspected ritualists prowled the area as bodies of children were found at different times. It would be recalled that in June 2010, the corpse of a 16-year-old boy, Mustapha Bako Ali, was discovered, a day after he was reported missing. The private organ of Mustapha was removed, while his hands and legs were chopped off. Another mutilated body was discovered upstream not long before that.

Despite the recents tragic loss, children and adolescent continue to swim in the river, taking turns to dive in and out, at times from atop the bridge. The area is always busy from morning till night. Grown up girls also visit the place to wash their clothes and take their bath.

Almajirai and other school children also visit the place when they are supposed to be in school.

When our correspondent visited the place a few days ago, young boys and girls were found swimming in the filthy water while older women were seen washing their cloths. There was no security presence at the site and this makes one wonder whether the ‘death trap’ is of concern to anyone.