Community worries over decaying body in the garden....SEE PHOTO

Firstclass newsline learnt that residents of Ibukun Oluwa Community in
the Oworonshoki area say they are scared that a decaying corpse in the
Lagos State owned parks and gardens in the area may cause an epidemic.
The residents, who spoke with a source , said the corpse had been
abandoned at the gardens since Saturday, adding that efforts to get
health workers to remove it had been abortive.
They said they feared that the body could blow up if nothing was done on time.
When a source visited the area, he observed that the stench from the
corpse had filled the whole community.
The decomposing body was balanced on one of the steel benches
constructed at the gardens, located near the entrance into Ogunnaike
Street.
A source reported that passersby quickly covered their nostrils and
raced into the community immediately the odour hit them.
A community leader, Elijah Akinpelu, told a source that he got a piece
of cloth to cover up the body.
He said the victim, who people call Peter, had been living under the
bridge for the past four years and no one knew his family members.
He said, "He has been around this community for the past four years.
He did not seem to have any mental problem.
"The police once came to chase out some homeless people, but they left
him. He died on Saturday evening. He fell to the ground, but somebody
carried him to the seat. He has been in that position since Saturday."
Firstclass newsline learnt that the police, officials of the Kick
Against Indiscipline from the Ministry of the Environment, had visited
the gardens.
A cleaner at the gardens lamented that the police and the KAI
officials merely looked at the corpse and went away.
He said, "I was not around on the Saturday the man died. But when I
resumed, I called the attention of my boss to it and he immediately
called those at the state secretariat. They promised to come and
evacuate the corpse, but they didn't show up.
"Some KAI officers have visited this place and after looking at the
corpse, they left. The police around the Iyana Oworo Berger area also
did nothing."
The General Secretary of the Ibukunoluwa Community Development
Association, Kabiawu Babajide, expressed disappointment at the slow
pace of emergency response of the officials of the state government.
He said in most instances, the officials responded to emergencies when
it was too late.
He said, "Since Saturday we have been calling the emergency numbers to
alert them to the development. They promised that the appropriate
department would be contacted to evacuate the corpse. That has not
been done.
"The corpse is now swollen and smelly. It is not hygienic to leave the
corpse in a place where school children play and a place that is close
to a residential area. It can cause a disease which can affect the
health of the people."
Another resident, Banjo Adekunle, asked the state government to
investigate the delay in emergency response and punish those found
guilty.
"The corpse has been there for the past four days and nothing has been
done. The police are supposed to barricade the area so that children
will not go there," he said.
A top government official in the Lagos State Ministry of the
Environment said the matter was out of the purview of the ministry.
A source contacted another official of the Lagos State Emergency
Management Agency, who promised to act on the information.
He said, "I am just getting to know about it.
"Thank you. I will work on it immediately. We will move there now."
The Police Public Relations Officer, Kenneth Nwosu, when contacted,
said the police were collaborating with other agencies to remove the
corpse.
He said, "We are working with relevant agencies of government towards
speedy evacuation of the corpse and cleaning of the area to avoid
outbreak of any epidemic."
Firstclassnewsline.net