A farm worker identified as Ndifreke has lost his life when he got drowned in an excavated pool, dug as a water reservoir for irrigation, around Udoudoma axis of Banking Layout in Uyo, the Akwa Ibom state capital.
LEADERSHIP learnt that Ndifreke died before help could reach him, while his counterpart was rescued alive.
According to an anonymous source, a farmer narrated that both men who were said to be friends had engaged in a manual labour for the day at a farm and only went to clean up and wash their farming tools when the incident occurred.
The farmer said their call for help attracted the women farmers nearby who rushed to the scene as the victims were gasping for breath and struggling inside the deep pool.
He further explained that the deceased had just finished a manual labour job when he proceeded to bath and clean his farm tools in the stagnant pool, oblivious of the depth of the water.
“There’s an adage which says you don’t test the depth of a stagnant water with both feet. This pool was deliberately dug by farmers around this layout and the neighbourhood for water collection and storage in this rainy season and part of dry season for irrigation.
“The late Ndifreke, entered the water alongside a friend, and both found themselves in difficulty trying to navigate out, but while Ndifreke got stuck in the mud at the bottom of the pool, women farming nearby rushed down on hearing the alarm to rescue the friend,” he narrated.
However, residents of the area have appealed to the government to fence off or properly secure such water retention sites to prevent further loss of life.
They also called on the Ministry of Environment, the Uyo Capital Development Authority (UCCDA) and other agencies to effectively regulate the activities of farmers in the metropolis.
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