By Izunna Okafor, Awka
Anambra State Governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has commiserated with the family of Mrs. Onyinye Okafor, who was recently swept away by flood in Oko, Orumba North Local Government Area of the State.
It would be recalled that a mother of five was swept away by flood along the Ekwulobia/Oko Expressway on Tuesday June 6, 2023, following a heavy downpour that badgered that day and the consequent flooding that accompanies it.
The victim was said to have come out from the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) where she went to perform some transactions, and then boarded a tricycle to go back to where she parked her motorcycle, only for the tricycle she boarded to get trapped in the pool of flood, which was also tossing it around, with the passengers on board.
However, Mrs. Okafor, sensing the danger, alighted from the tricycle in attempt to save herself; but unfortunately misstepped and fell into a drainage channel, and she was immediately swept away by flood.
Her dead body was, however, eventually found beside a culvert of a drainage channel at the Front Gate of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, where she was later found after hours of intensive search.
Commiserating with the deceased’s family in her hometown, Etti, Nanka, Orumba North Local Government Area, Governor Soludo, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Environment, Engr. Felix Odimegwu, described Mrs. Okafor’s death as unfortunate, horrible and traumatic.
While praying God to give the bereaved family the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss, Engr. Odimegwu also restated the Governor’s resolve to continue putting measures in place to curtail menace of flooding and to tone down the effects of flooding in the State.
“Mr. Governor has promised to continue in putting great measures to avoid this flooding menace. He is deeply saddened and prays God to give the family the fortitude to bear this great loss,” the Commissioner said.
Also speaking, the Transition Committee Chairman for Orumba North Local Government Area,Chief Ogochukwu Ekwueme, who accompanied the Commissioner, also condoled with the Okafor Family over the loss, while praying for divine comfort and peaceful repose of the deceased’s soul.
Responding, the father of the deceased, Mr. Jude Okafor, who recounted the traumatic experience and how they received the ugly news, appreciated the representatives of the government for their solidarity and for their kind gesture, stressing that the visit meant a lot to them. The bereaved father further expressed hope that her daughter’s soul would find eternal rest in the Lord where they will meet to part no more.
