Tragedy hits Kogi community as four graduates drown in well -

Three families were thrown into mourning when four polytechnic graduates drown in a well they dug in Kabba, Kabba/ Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State.

The deceased’s names were given as David, Sunday, Ayo and Ogbekedo, with two of them from the same parents.

Speaking on the incident, an eyewitness explained that the incident occurred at the Zango Quarter in Kabba on Monday, where a primary school teacher, Mrs Agnes Baiyere, hired the deceased to dig a well in front of her newly-constructed four-bedroom house.

Baiyere, a teacher at the St. Mary’s Primary School, Kabba, reportedly contracted David, who invited his colleagues, to dig the well.

The 25-foot well, which took about a week to dig, was said to have been completed with the finishing done and the cover in place when two of the diggers went back on Monday around 6pm to evacuate some broken blocks that fell into it.

It was gathered that one who entered the well was said to have complained of dizziness, which made his colleague to attempt come to his aid, but the two were trapped in the well.

Their two other colleagues were also said to have raced to the site to rescue their friends, but they were also trapped.

The wailing of the landlady was said to have attracted sympathisers to the scene.

Employees of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company, Kabba office, were said to have been contacted and they helped to evacuate the corpses of the four friends.

One of the residents, a woman, described one of the deceased, David, as a very gentle and hard-working member of her church.

She said David and his colleagues trained themselves up to the Higher National Diploma level with the proceeds of the vocation, adding that David got married after completing his mandatory one year national youth service last year.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, William Aya, confirmed the incident, adding that the Kabba Division received a distress call on Monday and immediately responded but that the victims had given up the ghost before help could reach them.

Aya said that the landlady of the house collapsed on sighting the corpses and was rushed to hospital, where she was receiving treatment.

“The remains of the deceased, whose ages ranged from 30 to 35 years, have been deposited in the morgue of the General Hospital Kabba, for autopsy,” he added.