Ondo State Deputy Governor, Dr Olayide Adelami, mni, on behalf of the State Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, paid a sympathy visit to the Muhammed Gumi family, whose twenty-year-old daughter tragically drowned last night in the High School area of Akure.
The Deputy Governor was received at the hospital, where the mother of the deceased was receiving treatment before the incident, by top officials of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), led by the Permanent Secretary in the office of the Deputy Governor, Mr Idowu Ojo, and the father of the deceased, Alhaji Awwal Muhammed Gumi.
While consoling the mother in her ward, the Deputy Governor expressed shock and sorrow at the devastating incident, praying that the Almighty would console the entire family.
“This incident is shocking, but no one can challenge God. We are His creatures, and for anything to happen, God permits it. As people of faith, we must believe this is an act of God,” he comforted.
The Deputy Governor stated that the treatment bills of Mrs Gumi would be covered by the State Government and directed the State Emergency Rescue office to take over the search for the body of the deceased along the water channels and canals around the Araromi/High School area.
Dr Adelami, who also chairs the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), appealed to residents to always adhere to the government’s sensitisation efforts, urging them to keep water channels free of blockages that could lead to floods, loss of life, and property damage.
In his response, Alhaji Awwal Muhammed Gumi expressed gratitude for the Deputy Governor’s visit and the kind gesture of paying his wife’s treatment bills. He explained that his wife, who had been admitted to the clinic before the incident, had sent their daughter, Qowiyyah Gumi, to buy bread for her around the Sabo area just before the rains began at about 8:00 pm.
Alhaji Gumi recounted that as Qowiyyah was returning, she fell into a deep water channel at Vulcanizer Bus Stop but could not withstand the intensity of the downpour, which had flooded the area.
The Chairman of the Transition Committee, Akure South Local Government, Hon Gbenga Fasua, took the Deputy Governor to several strategic locations where bridges and water channels have been blocked due to unprofessional diversion of watercourses.
Other government officials who accompanied the Deputy Governor included the Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, Pastor Frederick Orunko; the Special Assistant to the Governor on Emergency Response, Prince Oriade Adebawo; and the Special Assistant to the Governor on Mobilisation, Prince Dapo Adepoju.