The mid-day heavy downpour in Ibadan, Oyo State on Thursday claimed two lives in two different locations. One of the incident took place at one at Agbowo area in Ibadan North Local.

Government Area of the state while another occurred at Dandaru, Mokola in the same council area. The identity of the victim at Agbowo was difficult due to the circumstance surrounding his unfortunate end, the Dandaru victim, whose corpse was retrieved was identified as Ayuba by his colleagues.

According to a source, the Agbowo victim was swept away along with his white

Bluebird Nissan car on a bridge at Omotara Agboola Midetel road, Agbowo, Ibadan, during the heavy rain as he missed his way into the river. 

It was gathered that the victim was among several other road users, mainly Ok ada riders, who were trying to manoeuvre their way  through the small bridge and all efforts by the people in the neighbourhood to discourage him from taking a risk in crossing the bridge which was already over flown with water proved abortive.

The unidentified person was said to have   headed for the unclear road during the heavy rain instead of waiting for the flooding bridge to become clear just like many road users, mostly okada riders were also held at the side of the bridge.

"The man, may be, in his thought believed he could manoeuvre his way through the bridge because everywhere was over flown with water, but his dexterity however failed him as one of his car tyres fell into the side of the road which had already being covered by the flood.

"Immediately the man's car fell into the gutter and the water was pushing his car, he brought out his mobile phone and was seeing making calls probably through to his people. Unfortunately, he had rolled up his glass and we saw him battling to see a way he could escape.

"Few meters from here, the force of the water pushed the car to hit one of the debris in the river, thereby pushing him from one end to the other. At that point,nobody could save him.

"We were only watching helplessly as the flood carried him off from our side. One of the people who tried to rescue him said they traced him to Apete, Ido Local Government but could not find him," an eyewitness said.

It was further gathered that member of the state fire fighter service were contacted to trace the car and rescue him, but some people in the neighbourhood claimed that they later found the car at a distant location but the victim was not in the car.

The Mokola victim, Ayuba, who presumably was about 23 years and five others were rumoured to have been swept away in a canal at Dandaru area of Queen Elizabeth Road,Ibadan.

The deceased, who was said to be sleeping at the bank of the canal with five others before the volume of the rains gathered, was discovered hanging on an object with his legs and hands dangling under the bridge.

Fire fighters with the assistance of some men at the area, pulled out the lifeless body of Ayuba with a thick rope tied round his armpits at 5.20 pm when the volume of the flood had reduced.

An eye witness, Koyejo Akande, who spoke with our reporter and claimed to know Ayuba

said, "I usually see him with some boys here washing, fishing and playing.

"I know him through another friend of mine. His mother had died, but he was staying

with his grandmother at Iwo Road.

"The grandmother is popularly called 'Alhaja Olounje' (Canteen operator) at Iwo

Road. Unfortunately the friend I know who knows the shop of Alhaja is not here now",

he said looking at the lifeless body lying on the ground," he said.

It could not be ascertained whether the five others sleeping at the bank of the

canal were actually swept away in the flood or not.