16th April, 2014
Two children of the same parents drowned in a pond at Enwugba village in Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi.
An eyewitness, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the victims – Jideofor, 6 and Chinecherem, 4 went to the pond to fetch water.
According to the witness, Chinecherem’s container slipped off her hand and in an attempt to rescue it, she slipped into the pond.
“Jideofor, who saw what had happened, rushed to help her from drowning but also slipped and drowned,” the witness said.
The father of the children, Pius Mbam, who resides in Enugu, expressed grief over their death. He said he received a call to come home only for him to see the bodies of his two children.
“If there had been any elderly person at the pond, the water would not have drowned my children,” he lamented.
The Chairman of Abakaliki Local Government Area, Batholomey Ottah, who visited the family, urged them to accept the situation in good fate.
Ottah gave the assurance that the council would sink a borehole for the community before the end of April to address the water scarcity in the area.