Missing 3-year-old boy found dead in soakaway pit

The body of a 3-year-old boy who went missing has been found in a soakaway pit in Lagos.

The boy, identified as Waris, was found dead in the cesspit of an uncompleted building on Simpson street in Ebute-Meta, Lagos.

 

According to Punch, Waris was with his mother in their apartment before he went out to play. When his mother didn't find him in the compound moments later, she raised alarm and neighbours joined her in searching for the boy.

 

The child who went missing at about 3.30pm was not found until around 7pm when one of his slippers was found beside the cesspit. Neighbours brought a ladder and searched inside the pit where Waris' body was found. He was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead.

 

The father of the deceased said the cesspit was opened because workers wanted to work on it. 

He said: "His mother went to pick him in school and when they got home, his mother changed his clothes and he went out to play. They don’t normally open the cesspit, but yesterday (Wednesday) they wanted to work on it, so they opened it to bring out water that was inside."