THE body of a 60-year-old man, Elder Ebenezer Olabode, who was swept away by Tuesday’s flood in Osogbo was yesterday recovered at the bank of River Okooko in Oke Oniti area of the town.
He was returning home when his vehicle ran into a flooded street, ahead of his home.
A witness said Olabode was adamant despite the advice of people around the scene to leave the flooded street.
Another witness, Thomas Onaolapo, said the victim’s body could not be recovered by Hausa men at the scene after an intense search that lasted several hours.
He said: “We all warned him to go back, but he didn’t listen. After moving for a few minutes, the intensity of the flood forced open the booth of his car and the flood caught up with him. Two people standing nearby made attempt to rescue him and one of them nearly got drowned in the process and we all became powerless.”
Olabode’s body had been deposited at the morgue of the State Hospital, Asubiaro.
It was learnt that many victims lost several properties worth millions of naira to the flood.
At Rasco and Afonta, the flood destroyed foodstuff and many electronic goods.
An electronic dealer, identified as Ade, lamented that his “fully stocked shop” was seriously affected.
A foodstuff seller, Iya Sade, said she narrowly escaped been swept away by the water when trying to secure her stocks from the raging flood.
Many residents of Fiwasaye, one of the mostly affected areas, still live with the pains of the flood as they displayed their wet household items in the sun outside their homes.
No official statement yet from the government on the flooding.