The family of an 11-year-old boy, Iremide Opeifa, are grieving his demise after he drowned in a swimming pool on Sunday evening, at the Grand Bank Link Hotels along Idiroko Road in the Sango Ota area of Ogun State.
Punch gathered on Tuesday that Iremide had finished assisting his mother at her shop in the area before he left for the hotel where he drowned in the pool.
The younger sister of the deceased’s mother, Kehinde Opeifa, alleged that no efforts were made by the hotel to provide any medical care for Iremide before his mother arrived at the hotel.
She added that no lifeguard was in sight on the hotel premises to keep swimmers safe.
She said, “Iremide and his brother were assisting their mother in the shop before she left to buy some things for them as they were planning to resume school on Monday. His brother said he wanted to urinate on their way home, and after that, he did not see him again. So, he went back to the shop.
“While looking for his brother, one of their friends said they saw Iremide at Grand Bank Link Hotels. By the time he got there, he saw Iremide lying lifeless on the floor. That was when he ran home to inform his mum. So, when we got there, we saw the body.
“No effort was even made to take him to the hospital, they just left him there on the floor. We asked the person in charge of the pool why he collected money from such a young boy and allowed him into the swimming pool. So, the mother immediately went to the Police Division at Onipanu Ota to report the incident and thereafter rushed him to the hospital. He was rejected at two different hospitals. When we got to the third one, he was confirmed dead on arrival.”
Another relative of the family, Modupe Babafemi, claimed that the police did not take any action to view the corpse of the boy after the incident was reported at the station.
