A devastating flood incident in Calabar Municipality has claimed the life of a five-year-old boy while another child was dramatically rescued by a local resident. The tragedy occurred in the Ekorinim 1 community, highlighting the persistent drainage problems facing the area.
The Tragic Incident Unfolds
The incident happened on Sunday, November 23, following heavy rainfall that submerged major sections of the community. According to eyewitness accounts, several children were playing in the rain around 5:30 PM near a heavily flooded drainage channel.
Witnesses reported that the children had been using a sliced plantain trunk as an improvised raft, taking turns riding it along the fast-moving floodwaters. What began as playful excitement quickly turned into tragedy when two boys—Mathias and Covenant—were caught by the strong current and swept away.
Heroic Rescue Efforts
The neighborhood erupted into panic as residents rushed along the drainage channel in a desperate attempt to save the children. Bassey, locally known as Apostle Paul, recounted how some youths rushed to his barbershop crying for help.
"I immediately followed them to the scene and jumped inside the drainage," Bassey told reporters. "The current was strong, but I kept swimming until I found Covenant alive, though injured. People shouted with joy when we brought him out."
However, the search for the second boy proved more challenging. Despite suggestions that Mathias might have been swept into the nearby swamp, Bassey continued searching within the drainage system. After nearly an hour, he discovered the five-year-old's body trapped under plantain trunks and leaves beneath a concrete section of the gutter.
Community Reactions and Calls for Action
Covenant's mother, Favour Effiong, expressed her devastation upon learning her son had fallen into the gutter, especially since he had survived a similar incident five years earlier. Through tears, the single mother thanked Bassey for his heroic actions.
"God has given him a second chance. I pray every day for destiny helpers for my child. God sent this man to save him," she emotionally stated.
Effiong joined other residents in appealing to the government to address the dilapidated drainage and road network in Ekorinim, noting that dangerous flood levels regularly trap residents indoors during heavy rains.
Community leader Ene Okon described the incident as both tragic and spiritually concerning, while emphasizing the need for better parental supervision. He revealed that the bereaved mother had traveled for a ceremony, leaving Mathias in the care of his older sibling.
"What happened is a lesson. Parents must take care of their children. Our drainage system is also terrible. Government must come to our aid," Okon stressed.
Residents expressed long-standing frustration with what they described as years of governmental neglect, pointing to poor roads and inadequate drainage channels as recurring causes of flooding in the community. They specifically called on the Cross River State Government and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to intervene urgently.
The parents of the deceased boy had reportedly taken his remains to Ito in Odukpani Local Council for burial and were unavailable for comments at the time of reporting.
