SHOCK and grief have enveloped Sarai Village in Dawakin Kudu Local Government Area of Kano State after the body of a 96-year-old woman was discovered inside a soakaway pit four days after she went missing.
News Point Nigeria reports that the deceased, identified as Habiba Ado, was found on Thursday morning in a toilet pit within the community.
The Kano State Fire Service confirmed the tragic incident in a statement issued on Friday by its spokesperson, Saminu Abdullahi.
Abdullahi said the agency received a distress call at about 9:27 a.m. from one Usman Adamu, who reported that the elderly woman had fallen into the soakaway.
A rescue team from the service headquarters immediately responded, but Ado was recovered lifeless.
“Relatives of the deceased explained that she had been suffering from a mental health condition and had been missing for about four days before her body was found in the pit,” Abdullahi said.
He added that the family urged the property owner to properly cover and secure the pit to avoid a recurrence of the incident.
The remains of the nonagenarian were handed over to the Ward Head of Sarai Village, Alhaji Musa Muhammad, for burial in accordance with Islamic rites.
The unfortunate case adds to a string of similar fatal accidents involving soakaway and pit toilets in Kano in recent years.
In April 2022, a 40-year-old man, Muazu Garba, died while attempting to retrieve his phone from a pit toilet at Jigirya Quarters in Nassarawa LGA.
Likewise, in January 2023, tragedy struck when two brothers — 27-year-old Musa Abdullahi and 17-year-old Rabiu Abdullahi suffocated in a sewage tank while trying to rescue each other.
