Body Of Two-Year-Old Boy Found In Abandoned Manhole

Residents of Gravel Junction near New Gbawe are grieving after a two-year-old boy was found drowned in an abandoned manhole in the area.

The body of little David was recovered from an uncovered manhole in the Weija-Gbawe Municipality of Greater Accra Region.

According to the mother of the deceased, she last saw her son when he came in asking for food.

“He went to play with his friends, but after a while, I called him to return, I gave him some food since he said he was hungry. After eating he went back to play with his friends. I stepped out to the salon at about 4pm and I even saw him playing with his friends. At about 5 pm, my husband called me and said my son had gone missing. So we reported to the Gbawe chiefs palace and the Lafa police station for assistance but for two days we couldn’t find him.”

The assemblyman of the Gbawe Electoral Area, Andy Oppong Amoako, said he got angry when he visited the scene due to the numerous uncovered manholes filled with water around the area.

“When I came and saw the manhole, I told them this was a deathtrap because children live in nearby houses and they come out to play here,” he stated.

Mr. Oppong tasked the Municipal Assembly to ensure that all “deadly manholes” in the area are either covered or destroyed.

He also pleaded with parents to be extra vigilant in taking care of their children to prevent such occurrences in the near future.

“It is very sad to lose such a child. Somebody’s negligence has made someone lose his child but I can assure you that as an assemblyman, we will take all the necessary measures to make sure that all these things are dealt with and people who have decided to cause problems for the community should also prepare for us.”

Tina Naa Ayeeley Mensah, MP for the area and deputy Minister of Health who was there to offer her condolences to the bereaved said the assembly will soon charge residents who have dug manholes within the community and failed to cover them up.

“There are manholes that have been dug for so many years and have not been covered and so the boy went playing around there and fell inside. We are here to console the mother and also give warning to all those people who have dug manholes that they should cover them up.”

“I was playing with my younger brother when I visited the washroom. Upon my return I realised that my brother was nowhere to be found,” the sister of Kofi Anokye, Akosua said in relation to the disappearance of her two-year-old brother.

She had initially said that her brother was kidnapped.