Brave Man Dies Trying To Save Toddler Who Fell Inside Well In Abule Egba

A 51-year-old cleaner’s son’s attempt to do a good deed turned into a double tragedy in Abule Egba area of Lagos State this week.

A man has died while trying to rescue a two-year-old toddler who fell into a domestic well inside a compound.

The incident happened on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, at No. 4, Paul Street, inward Agbe Road, Abule Egba.

According to the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA, the agency received a distress call at exactly 9:48 a.m. on Tuesday morning.

How it happened

LASEMA said preliminary investigation showed that the toddler, whose mother works as a cleaner in the compound, accidentally fell into the well.

When people in the compound shouted for help, a man from the Hausa community who lives in the area quickly volunteered to help.

He climbed down into the well to bring the child out. But he got trapped inside and could not climb back out.

Neighbours tried to pull both of them out but failed, so they called emergency responders.

When LASEMA responders arrived from their Igando base, they met residents already trying to rescue the victims. The agency then joined forces with the Lagos State Fire and Rescue Service, the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Corps and the Nigeria Police Force.

Rescue Efforts

The rescue operation was very difficult.

The well had a lot of water and very thick mud at the bottom. The team tried to pump out the water, but they had operational challenges.

After sustained efforts, the man who went in to rescue the child was brought out — but he was already dead.

His body was placed in a body bag and handed over to his relatives and members of the Hausa community for burial according to their customs.

LASEMA described his action as an act of uncommon bravery.

The search for the toddler continued. The team later called a specialist local diver to enter the well for a final search.

The diver searched inside the mud and confirmed that the child’s body had sunk deep into the thick mud and could no longer be recovered. The only thing recovered was one shoe belonging to the toddler.

Following the diver’s report and after talking with the child’s family and community leaders, LASEMA announced that the rescue operation had ended.

LASEMA’s Warning

The Permanent Secretary of LASEMA, Dr Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, who issued the statement, commiserated with both families.

He warned Lagos residents to always cover, raise and properly secure wells and other open pits in their compounds, especially in homes where small children live.

He also advised people not to attempt dangerous rescues without proper equipment and training. Instead, he said residents should call emergency toll-free lines 767 or 112 immediately.

#LASEMA

#Toddler

#Braveman

#Abuleegba

#Mandies

#Lagos

Credit: All about Lagos

LAGOS FIRE OUTBREAK: Three Die, Properties Destroyed as Vandalized NNPC Pipeline Explodes in Abule Egba

AgegePulse Magazine

As Lagos suffers another pipeline fire at Abule Egba/Ekoro Road Sunday night, the Lagos State Emergency Response Agency, LASEMA has activated the State's Emergency Response Plan.

AgegePulse learnt that, the swift response of LASEMA and other First Responders mobilized to the incident site with the Incident Commander, DG/CEO LASEMA-Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu in charge of the recovery process, has successfully curtailed the inferno.

The quick success aside being attributed to adequate training of personnel, quick response time and acquisition of proper equipment by the Governor Sanwo–Olu led administration, it was attributed to the outcome of interagency collaboration was said to have made the operation and recovery process fast and smooth.

According to updated reports, the inferno has been completely put off with details revealing that the valve where the vandalised petroleum products emanated from, had been stopped cutting off supply totally from source at the NNPC Station.

This collaborative act by the NNPC eased the entire recovery process in no small measure, as supply of the highly inflammable fluid was cut off at source which contributed immensely to curtailing the resultant fire from acts of the pipeline vandals.

Though preliminary report on the Ilepo fire outbreak had it that it was a pipeline fire which cause could not be ascertained, however, Situational Report from further investigations later revealed that the inferno was as a result of pipeline vandalism.

Going further, the report have it that two adults and one young male lives were lost to the inferno, with 11 trucks laden with 40feet containers destroyed, while about Seven buildings were razed down by the inferno.

However no injuries were recorded by the responders during the operation in which LASEMA combined efforts of it's Lagos West Response Unit, the Dolphin and that of the Command Control Center Tiger Squads, LASEMA Fire Team, as well as the Lagos State and Federal Fire Services, the RRS and other relevant safety and security agencies were responders.