Children drown in muddy floodwater collection area in Ikpoba-Okha

A Sunday meant for play turned into horror on Erediauwa Street, off Sapele Road, in Ikpoba-Okha, Edo State, as two children drowned in a muddy floodwater collection site.

Witnesses say four children wandered into the government-designated floodwater area — a waterlogged expanse locals had assumed was harmless. In an instant, the children slipped into the thick mud.

Chaos erupted as shouts for help filled the air. Residents rushed to the scene, but the mud had already claimed two young lives.

“The area is used to collect flood water. No one would have thought the children would go there because it’s muddy,” a shaken witness said. “Two were pulled out dead, while the other two were rushed to a nearby hospital.”
The surviving children were resuscitated after being rushed to medical care.

Edo State Police spokesperson, Eno Ikoedem, confirmed the tragic incident, noting that a rescue team was immediately deployed upon receiving the distress call, but it was too late to save the two victims.