A nine-year-old girl has died after a wall erected to support water pipes connected to a commercial borehole collapsed at Ogida Quarters...
A nine-year-old girl has died after a wall erected to support water pipes connected to a commercial borehole collapsed at Ogida Quarters in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State.
According to reports, the incident occurred on Osarehen Street, off Powerline Road, in Benin the state capital.
It was gathered that the victim, identified as Choice Izevbaye, had been sent by her grandmother to buy water when the about four-feet high wall collapsed on her as she bent to scoop water from a bowl.
The Public Relations Officer, Moses Nkombe, confirmed the incident on Monday.
It was also learnt that three relatives of the deceased, said to be a primary three pupil, were arrested by the police for allegedly damaging the property of the owner of the borehole, identified as one Mr. Edigin.
Her 35-year-old mother, Reginald Eseiwi, stated that she was away when the unfortunate incident occurred.
Eseiwi, however, accused the owner of allegedly ignoring complaints about the bad state of the wall and not taking prompt steps to fix it.
She, therefore, appealed to the Nigeria Police and other relevant authorities to come to her aid in order to secure the release of her family members who were being detained.
Edigin could not be reached for comments as he was said to have left his building since the incident occurred on June 10.
A damaged black rubber bowl, suspected to be the one the little had scooped water from, was seen under the rubble of collapsed wall in front of the house when our correspondent visited the scene.
Some louvres in the windows of the building were also broken.
However, Nkombe said that the landlord and the operator of the commercial borehole had been arrested, while investigation was ongoing.
He also explained that the arrest of the three members of the bereaved family was in connection with an allegation of malicious damage on the resident of the landlord.
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