{"id":15571,"date":"2025-08-02T08:35:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-02T08:35:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/?p=15571"},"modified":"2025-08-02T08:35:54","modified_gmt":"2025-08-02T08:35:54","slug":"seeing-kids-return-from-school-after-my-son-died-in-soakaway-breaks-me-transporter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/2025\/08\/02\/seeing-kids-return-from-school-after-my-son-died-in-soakaway-breaks-me-transporter\/","title":{"rendered":"Seeing kids return from school after my son died in soakaway breaks me \u2013 Transporter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A transporter, Bertrand Ubah, speaks to GRACE EDEMA about the events leading to the death of his three-year-old son, Gideon, in an open soakaway, after he warned the landlord years ago to close the facility, and his struggle with the police while seeking justice for his late child<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you walk us through what happened before the incident?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My wife went to her elder sister\u2019s place at Baba Adisa in Kamoni Villa, Ajah. She had an interview scheduled at a microfinance bank along Ajah Road on Monday. So, she decided to stay with her sister for convenience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before leaving for the interview, she dropped our baby off with her elder sister, who had also helped care for the child after birth. The plan was for her to pick up the baby after the interview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you hear from her on that day?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I tried calling her during that day, but she didn\u2019t pick up initially. Later in the evening, she called me. She said the interview was very stressful and that she even vomited. She told me she would rest and return home to Epe on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened on Tuesday?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her phone was off in the morning. Then later, she called to say they were preparing to come back home to Epe. She asked if I was available to come and pick her and the baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her sister\u2019s husband built their house in Kamoni Villa, and there\u2019s a neighbour who bought a plot next to them. This neighbour built his house farther back and failed to cover the soakaway pit properly\u2014it was left open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When did you realise something had gone wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

About two hours after she called, someone else started calling me repeatedly. I finally picked, and they told me to come to Akodo General Hospital. I was shocked; I asked, \u2018What happened?\u2019 They said it had to do with my son, Gideon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I immediately drove to the hospital. When I arrived, I met her elder sister, younger sister, and one other woman. One of the nurses asked me, \u2018Are you Mr Ubah?\u2019 I said yes. She told me they needed to take me to see the doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did the doctor tell you?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I got to the doctor\u2019s office, he asked, \u2018Are you Mr. Ubah?\u2019 I said yes. Then he asked, \u2018Are you aware that your son is here?\u2019 I said, \u2018My son isn\u2019t sick. Nothing happened to my son. Why is he here?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was when he told me, \u2018We tried\u2026 we tried everything, but we couldn\u2019t save him.\u2019 I was shocked. I asked, \u2018What do you mean? Who did you try to save and couldn\u2019t?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then they took me to see him. My little boy was lying lifeless on the hospital bed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What did you do next when you saw your son at the hospital?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Immediately I saw my son; I carried him and rushed to another hospital still hoping for a miracle. They tried, but it was the same result. I did everything I possibly could.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That entire night, from Wednesday to Thursday, we didn\u2019t rest. I reached out to my friends, some doctors, and even tried traditional medicine. But nothing worked. That was how we lost him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did anyone explain how your son got to the spot where he fell into the soakaway?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes! After everything, I tried to piece together what happened. My wife\u2019s elder sister\u2019s house has a kitchen entrance that faces Baba Sodiq\u2019s side\u2014near his sitting room window. There\u2019s also a self-contained apartment behind that house, belonging to Baba Sodiq.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, because the front entrance was locked, people in that compound usually passed through that corner side, which is a narrow path between two buildings. That\u2019s the same path my wife and her sisters use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue is, Baba Sodiq used up all his land space for his building, so there\u2019s no gutter or fence area. The little remaining space belongs to my in-law (my wife\u2019s elder sister and her husband). But when they wanted to build a proper fence, Baba Sodiq protested, saying it would block his exit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, how exactly did your son end up at the soakaway pit?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to what my wife told me, the elder sister, who lives in the same compound as her husband, was inside the house with the boy. She was receiving calls, but the network inside was poor. So, she stepped outside to get a better signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My son, who calls her \u2018Big Mummy\u2019, followed her outside. While she was on the phone, she didn\u2019t realise that Gideon hadn\u2019t gone back inside. She thought he had returned to his mother after disturbing her during the call.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But after the call and she went back inside, and asked, \u2018Where\u2019s Gideon?\u2019 My wife thought he was with her. They began to look for him, calling out his name!\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They initially thought he was hiding somewhere in the house. They searched the entire three-bedroom apartment but didn\u2019t find him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At what point did they realise something had gone wrong?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was when they stepped outside and found one of his slippers lying near the soakaway area. They started to panic. The soakaway was filled with water, so they couldn\u2019t see clearly. They began scooping water out, trying to locate him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, they brought a ladder. My wife\u2019s sister went down with the ladder, and when her foot touched something soft, his stomach, she screamed. That\u2019s when people started rushing in. One of the tenants helped pull the ladder and brought my son out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had warned the man about the soakaway before this incident. That\u2019s what hurts me the most. I told the landlord over three years ago to cover it properly. I warned him. But he didn\u2019t do anything. Now, my son is gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Was the soakaway located in a place people regularly passed through?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, it was right in front of the building\u2014not at the back. It\u2019s a path people use to enter the compound every day. That soakaway was like a death trap, and my wife and her sister had complained about it many times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They even tried to cover it with a plank, but it was just softwood, already weakened by rainwater and wear. That was what my son stepped on before he fell in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The soakaway wasn\u2019t properly covered. The man\u2014the landlord\u2014tried to say he covered it. But how did he cover it? With what did he cover it? That place collects all the wastewater from the house\u2014bathwater, kitchen water\u2014and it was never sealed off properly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When they said they found my son inside the soakaway, I was devastated. And I asked, \u2018Is it not the same soakaway I warned this man about over three years ago?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How old was your son?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My son was three years old. Yes, he was supposed to turn three on August 3rd. He was very sharp and intelligent. He was a big boy. We used to talk and laugh together\u2014he was very active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Did you report the case to the police?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, I did, but to my surprise, when I got to the station, I discovered that the case had already been reported\u2014through the DSP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a bit of an argument when I got there because I told them, \u2018I can\u2019t even write anything right now. I\u2019m not myself.\u2019 I was still in deep shock. There was a woman from Human Rights there. I told her, \u2018This is your job. You are supposed to advocate for justice. Please, do your job.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But during that small argument, she left. She walked out. She later went for her appointment to meet the DSP, but when she returned, she couldn\u2019t even explain what she had gone to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is that my son was confirmed dead at the hospital before I even arrived. All I wanted was to save my son. I didn\u2019t care about any cover-up. But now I want justice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about the DPO?<\/strong> Related News<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, the DPO came into the matter. He questioned the DSP and immediately instructed that the landlord be brought in right away. That was on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DSP then tried to call the man who had earlier come to report the matter on the landlord\u2019s behalf. They told him to come along with his brother, the actual landlord. They kept calling and calling. The man kept saying they were coming, but they never showed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We waited the entire Friday, but they didn\u2019t come. We eventually left the station around 6 or 7 pm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened thereafter?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DPO was visibly angry. He then gave an order to the DSP and said, \u2018Go to that house. Anybody you find there, arrest them and bring them to me. Bring anyone connected to the landlord and also bring the poor boy\u2019s details.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we arranged for a car and went to the house. When we got there, we met a young lady, who told us something shocking: that just a week earlier, she had almost fallen into that same open soakaway. She said it had rained heavily that week, and the whole area was flooded. She was walking and nearly fell in, but God saved her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we could return to the station, the lady called her husband. The husband arrived at the police station before us. When we got there, he said he was the one who used a ladder to bring out my son\u2019s body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let me tell you how deep that soakaway is: I\u2019m a tall man, and it would take one and a half times my height to reach the bottom, and yet, it was left wide open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later that night, I stayed till past 7 or 8 pm, but the landlord never came, not even the man he sent to report the case earlier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, the police asked us to return to the station on Monday. That was the next available date. So we left, and up till that time, the landlord and his people still hadn\u2019t come home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Has the landlord been arrested?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was surprised when I got a call from them, saying they were already at my house. I asked, \u2018Who are you?\u2019 They mentioned their names, and I said, \u2018Okay, but you should\u2019ve called before coming. If you were serious, you would\u2019ve informed me in advance.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They asked how long I would be away. I told them I hadn\u2019t gone far, but I wasn\u2019t at home at that moment. It was Sunday\u2014our community meeting day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later, they called again, but I didn\u2019t answer because when the police called them to come to the station earlier, they refused to show up. Now, all of a sudden, they\u2019re coming to my house?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They kept repeating that they came in peace, but it was obvious they knew they were at fault.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What was your response to their pleas?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After they finished talking, my people turned to me and asked, \u2018Do you have anything to say?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was when I stood up. I told everyone there that my biggest pain is that this whole thing could have been prevented. I reminded them that two years and some months ago, I had visited that compound.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 It was on a Friday. I had taken a korope (a minibus) from one boy I gave it to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was that Friday night I went there, and my wife had just given birth to our son\u2014Gideon. That very night, I nearly fell into that same soakaway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The next morning, Saturday, I saw the landlord\u2014he had just finished praying. I walked up to him and told him plainly, \u2018My brother, try and cover this soakaway.\u2019 I didn\u2019t know then that this same soakaway\u2014the one I escaped from\u2014would be the very one my son would fall into and die.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, in my pain and anger, I reached out for my cutlass. I was so furious I wanted to cut off the man\u2019s head\u2014just to make him feel the same pain I was feeling. I said, \u2018Let everything come out here. If it\u2019s to end in prison, so be it. God knows best.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My people rushed me and held me back. They didn\u2019t even let me pull the cutlass out. Meanwhile, the landlord\u2019s brother quietly went to his car boot\u2014I don\u2019t even know what he went to bring out. I warned him, \u2018If you try anything here, nobody is leaving this place alive.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then they all started begging. The landlord\u2019s brother, the Baales; they all started begging me. They said, \u2018Please, please, please.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I said, \u2018What are you begging me for? Are you begging me because your brother built a house and left a deadly soakaway uncovered for three years, after I warned him? What exactly are you begging for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then they asked me, \u2018What do you want us to do?\u2019 I told them clearly that I would give them two options. \u2018It is either they raise my son back to life\u2014or they pay me \u20a620m.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was what I said. Afterwards, the DSP called me and reminded me to come to the station on Monday, as earlier agreed. Remember, on Friday, when the police called them, they didn\u2019t show up. But now, they came to my house on Sunday, pretending to make peace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, on Monday, I went to the station and told the DSP what happened. I said, \u2018What kind of stupid question is that?\u2019 He then explained that on Sunday, the landlord\u2019s family had called him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They told the DSP that the landlord had a stroke, and that\u2019s why his sons and relatives came to plead on his behalf. After their visit to the DSP, they came straight to my compound and met with our people. That was when they were asked to come back the next Sunday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The DSP then asked for my opinion. I told him that I only want justice. It is either they raise my son back, or they pay \u20a620m. Pictures of the soakaway and the house were added to the case file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I eventually buried my son because what was coming out of his body was too much. I couldn\u2019t bear it\u2014fluids from his nose, mouth, and ears. It was too heartbreaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What are the police doing now?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I went back to the DPO, he asked, \u2018Where is the landlord of that house?\u2019 They brought out some phone numbers and said the landlord was critically ill\u2014that he had suffered a stroke\u2014and they were looking for \u20a610m to carry out an operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, the only person I knew as the landlord was Baba Sodiq. I don\u2019t even know his full name, but he\u2019s the one who has been managing the house. He\u2019s the one collecting rent from the tenants. He\u2019s the one giving people the keys. So, I said to him, \u2018If you\u2019re the one coming around and handling the house, don\u2019t you know that you\u2019re responsible for covering that soakaway?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was a heated argument at the police station. Then the DPO asked them to excuse us and directed the DSP to take them into his office. After they left, the DPO told me that legally, since the property is in the father\u2019s name, they can\u2019t hold the son responsible\u2014unless they physically carry the sick father to court.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked the DPO, \u2018If this were your child who died, is this how you would treat the matter?\u2019 He replied, \u2018If you take this to court, the court will say the same thing I\u2019m saying now.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During a conversation in an Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo community meeting, the landlord\u2019s relatives said they were willing to pay \u20a62m. My brother was angry with the action from the landlord\u2019s people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eventually, my brother told me, \u201cIf they can offer \u20a63m, maybe I can have a change of mind.\u2019 After that meeting, he came back to me and said, \u2018These people are wicked.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now they\u2019re claiming they need \u20a610m to treat their father, a man who has lived long, even has great-grandchildren\u2014but they couldn\u2019t use just a little money to cover the open soakaway that claimed the life of my three-year-old son?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How are you coping with the loss of your first child? How does it feel?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel terrible. I still haven\u2019t recovered. Every day, I look at my son\u2019s picture. When I see children going to school or returning home, it breaks me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you remember the exact date it happened?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I don\u2019t remember the exact date right now, but it was around the beginning of this month, possibly about three weeks ago. I think today is the 28th, so yes, it must have happened in early July.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How old are you and what\u2019s your occupation?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m from Enugu State, from Aninri Local Government Area. I used to run my own business before things got hard. Now, I do transport work. I\u2019m 41 years old.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A transporter, Bertrand Ubah, speaks to GRACE EDEMA about the events leading to the death of his three-year-old son, Gideon, in an open soakaway, after he warned the landlord years ago to close the facility, and his struggle with the police while seeking justice for his late child Can you walk us through what happened […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15572,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,18,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15571","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-lifestyle","category-naija-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.funminews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/85fc605c-61a6-4820-813e-1c462c08418f.jpeg?fit=468%2C361&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15571","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15571"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15571\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15574,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15571\/revisions\/15574"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.funminews.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}