Heartbreaking Story Of Family Breadwinner Who Drowned While Digging A Well In Lagos

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Abubakar Jubri, a family breadwinner, has lost his life while digging a well in a compound at the Shasha area of Lagos State, a report by PUNCH Metro reports.

It was gathered that Jubri and his partner, Abu Yaro, were contracted to dig a well in the house and after digging to a certain level, the deceased started packing out sand from the well but suddenly stopped communicating with his partner.

It was learnt that Yaro raised the alarm, which attracted the attention of one Shaibu Adamu, who reportedly brought Jubri’s remains out of the well.

Speaking with PUNCH Metro on Wednesday, the owner of the house, Yinka Ayetigbo, said one of his tenants employed Jubri and Yaro to dig the well, adding that after he was informed about the incident, he proceeded to make a report at the police station.

He explained that a medical practitioner was contacted to assess Jubri and he pronounced him dead, adding that the deceased was the breadwinner of his family.

Ayetigbo stated, “The incident happened in my house and I was called when it occurred and I took responsibility for the whole thing. The person, who died, was the breadwinner of his family. It was not me who contracted him; he was contracted by one of my tenants. It was not just him, they were two and in the process, the other person (Yaro) realised that Jubri was no longer making contact with him regularly as he was doing initially.

“He was inside the well and the other person was outside; the first thing that was done was to bring him out from there to check his pulse and that was how they realised that he had stopped breathing. All these that I am telling you are what I heard. So, when I was called and came there, he was already dead. The only step I had to take was to report to the police and after that, we called a medical practitioner to have a look at him and he pronounced him dead.

 “I took everything on from there; just because he died while doing his work doesn’t mean that I have to abandon his family. I took up the responsibility for his burial and as a Muslim, he was given his rightful honour and buried that same day. I can’t put that burden on his family, because they didn’t plan for that unfortunate incident and the expenses that come with it.”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said Jubri died in the process of packing out sand from the well, adding that there was no mark of violence on his body as it was brought out of the well.

Adejobi said, “On March 19, 2021, around 10.40am, one Yinka Ayetigbo of No. 12 Lawal Street, Shasha, came to the station and reported that on the same date around 09.40am, one Abubakar Jubri, 63, Hausa, was digging a well for him in his compound with one Abu Yaro. In the process of packing out sand from the well, Yaro could no longer hear Jubri’s response.

“He immediately called the attention of Shaibu Adamu, who brought him out of the well dead. There was no mark of violence on the body; the family brought a sworn affidavit for the burial in line with Islamic rites.”