Man dies as he falls into a septic tank while trying to put on his generator

 

He woke up hale and hearty that Monday.

 

 Being the first working day of the week, 35-year-old Salisu Olalekan began the day with a lot of plans hoping he would be able to achieve them before the end of the week. He didn’t. He died in tragic circumstances.

 

Although neighbours and tenants of No 7 Anipele Street, Olorunsogo area of Mushin, Lagos attributed his sudden death to spiritual attack, Lagos State Fire Services said property owners should be conscious of the state of their property.

According to eye witnesses’ account, the victim might have escaped the tragedy if the property owner had fixed the cover of the septic tank which had been depressed before it caved in penultimate Monday.

 

They also lamented that the situation would not have occurred if there had not been erratic public power supply in the area.

 

Salisu, one of the occupants of the two-storey building, was said to be resting at home after the day’s work, when his daughter complained about the hot weather. This prompted the father to go for his generator. The man apparently to power the fan with the generator to ease the daughter’s discomfort.

 

 A resident on the street, Madam Owonikoko Adenike, said as soon as Salisu carried the generator, he put it on the septic tank and wanted to start it when the septic tank caved in.

 

A resident said fire fighters were not contacted on time as the tenants thought they could perform the rescue operation. After a futile effort, however, they decided to raise the alarm by contacting fire fighters who arrived the scene and brought the victim out, but the young man was stone dead.

 

An eye witness, Alfa Akeem Raji, said faeces oozed out of the victim’s nostrils, eyes, ears and mouth as firemen recovered the body from the tank.

 

When the scene of the incident was visited, only one tenant was around as other occupants of the building were said to have temporarily relocated as a result of the incident. ‘’What happened was a rude shock to us and that is why we are here,” said a sympathiser who refused to disclosed his identity.

 

 Contacted, Director, Lagos State Fire Services, Razak Fadipe, who confirmed the incident, advised residents against standing on septic tanks to avoid the kind of tragedy that happened to Salisu.