Sent to fetch water, Maryam Adamu ended up in a well (photo)

WHEN residents of Unguwar community of Bauchi State woke up on Tuesday, May 13, 2014, little did they know that tragedy would visit them uninvited. SALIU GBADAMOSI writes on the death of Maryam Adamu, a 6-year-old who would have been saved if only…

THOUGH no one in the area could specifically say when the well was dug, one thing they were unanimous about is that what happened on the evening of Tuesday, May 13, 2014 had never been witnessed at Unguwar area in downtown Bauchi, the Bauchi State capital.

That day, tragedy struck when a six-year-old girl, Maryam Adamu, fell inside the well – which some residents of the area said had been in existence, serving the purpose of providing water for domestic consumption for decades – and died inside it, when no help came her way. Her death inside the well was said to be the first time such an ugly and sad event happened with regards to the well.

The well is said to be about 36 feet deep and located right beside the deceased’s parents’ house. It is said to have many large holes on its wall. This was probably the reason many, including the men of the Bauchi State Fire Service who were called by the people when the girl fell inside the well, were reluctant to rescue the drowning Maryam, who was said to be the third child of her mother.

When Sunday Tribune visited the area during the week, it was gathered that due to the inability of the people to enter the well to rescue the girl, they alerted the fire service, which promptly sent five firefighters to come and rescue her. Though the firefighters arrived at the scene of the incident in time, they were said to have chickened out on realising that the well was too deep for them to enter, leading to delay in rescuing the girl, who eventually died when no help was forthcoming.

An eyewitness, Ubaidullah A. Umar, whose house is directly opposite the girl’s parents’ house, told Sunday Tribune that the girl might not have died if the fire service men, who were better equipped to save life and property had done the needful that day instead of refusing to enter the well to rescue the girl.

“It was really bad as the firefighters who were trained to save lives in emergency situations acted contrary to their training. They refused to go deep into the well, claiming that it was too deep and that there are big holes on its walls,” Umar lamented.

“While this was going on, a boy among the sympathisers at the scene volunteered to go inside the well to rescue to girl but it was too late as it was her corpse that he eventually brought out. The irony of the whole episode was that the volunteer was not trained to do so but those who were formally trained could not do what they were trained and being paid for.”

After bringing out the corpse of the deceased, Sunday Tribune gathered that to show their appreciation for a job well done, the five firefighters at the scene of the incident gave the volunteer, one Muhammed Nuru Mukhtar, the sum of N500.

When Sunday Tribune visited the parents of the girl, the father was not at home but sympathisers, mostly women, were still trooping in to condole with the bereaved mother who looked resigned to fate.

Speaking with Sunday Tribune, Rabiatu Hassan Adamu, a mother of three children, said she did not really know what happened to her daughter at the well, though she admitted to have sent her to fetch water contrary to what many said that she was playing near the well when she drowned.

“I asked my daughter, who is six years and seven months old to go to the well and fetch water for me that sad evening. I really did not know what went wrong at the well but I later heard people shouting that a girl had fallen inside the well. I was so shocked to learn that it was my daughter who I sent to fetch water for me just a few minutes ago,” the 25-year-old Rabiatu said soberly.

Despite losing her daughter, the mother declared that she had accepted what happened to her, saying that, “I have no other thing to say than accept what happened to my daughter. As a Muslim, I accept it as a will of Allah, who gave me the girl and also took her away from me. I cannot query Allah for what He did.”

At this stage, Ummi Salma Hassan, who is a younger sister to the bereaved mother, took over from her sister, saying that what happened to Maryam had never happened in the area before. 

According to her, before the arrival of the firefighters at the scene, three persons had attempted to rescue the girl to no avail, adding that the arrival of the fire service men did not make any difference as they too could not rescue her before she eventually gave up inside the well.

Ummi Salma expressed dissatisfaction with the alleged incompetence and lackadaisical attitude put up by the firefighters, saying that, “they did not do enough to rescue the girl. Perhaps, they could have succeeded in rescuing her if they had carried out their duty very well.”

The stepmother of the deceased, Zulaihatu Adamu, said Maryam was a nice and promising girl. She also expressed dissatisfaction with the attitude of the firefighters deployed in the area that day to rescue the girl.

She however, called on members of the community to contribute money to cover the well in order to avert a recurrence of such incident, saying that, “since we have been here, this has not happened before. People have to do something urgently to cover the well to prevent another situation like this from happening.”

Also speaking with Sunday Tribune, 25-year-old Mukhtar, who brought out the corpse of the girl from the well, said that was not his first time of entering a well, adding that, “in fact, I like entering wells even though I do not have any formal training to do that.”

Mukhtar, who said he was a carpenter, said he volunteered to help rescue the drowned girl when help did not come from the firefighters.

“I saw a crowd around the well and came to see what was happening only to learn that a small girl got drowned in it. There were some firefighters there too but they were afraid to go deep down the water to bring the girl out. Sensing that further delay could be dangerous, I volunteered to enter the well and go down to rescue the girl. But unfortunately she had died before I went inside; it was only her corpse that I brought out,” Mukhtar said.

Reacting to the incident, the Mai Unguwar (Community Head) of Unguwar Bauchi, Mallam Adamu Alin Bayi, lamented the unfortunate incident in his domain, saying that such had never happened before. 

According to him, the well, which he said had been in existence for more than 30 years, was provided with concrete embankment about 15 years ago, saying that it was always covered but covers provided were always removed by some people, leaving the well uncovered.