HOW CENTENARIAN, TEENGAGER, OTHERS ESCAPED DEATH BY WHISKER AT OBIARUKU

Barely two weeks after a devastating rainstorm swept through Obiaruku community in Ukwani Local Government Area of Delta State, ravaging no fewer than 50 houses, economic trees and electric cable bearing poles, fresh facts have emerged that an age stricken 102 years old woman and a teenager were among the victims of the disaster who narrowly escaped death unhurt.

Besides, a total of eight persons, who sustained different degrees of injury, also survived beyond what could have inevitably become their last breath of life in the natural disaster that also displaced a new generation church specialized in the deliverance of mentally deranged persons.

Reeling out the sorry experience to newsmen during an inspection visit of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) led by the Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Hon. Chika Ossai, Chief Kuti Dafe, a resident of the area, said the centenarian was asleep at the top floor of one of the affected story buildings which has no fewer than 100 rooms at the time the storm began.

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Dafe, who is the acting head of the Joseph Daphey dynasty, the late paramount ruler of Obiaruku community, narrated that he had, in the company of other members of the family, gone out on a function during which the devastation set in.

“We found that the cloud was fast becoming darker and, suddenly, it started raining. We were at a reception venue for the marriage ceremony of one of my cousins when we heard bangs of thunder and wind blowing heavily around the area.

“It was not long before we started receiving messages that the roof and entire (story) building was being turned apart. We all hurriedly came down here to see the building already turn apart. There was no loss of life, but the greatest luck we had was that our 102 years old mother who was asleep in the same building survived it without any injury”, he narrated.

Besides the safety of the centenarian which could be likened to the biblical account of Jesus and the raging storm, a teenager who is a son to the youth President of the Community, Mr. Chika Uwabuofu, also escaped death by whisker after a poultry farm collapsed.

The teenager, according to Uwabuofu, was said to have administered feed to chicks in the farm when the clouds started changing looks. As though providence was on his side, the boy was said to have walked about six inches away when the block wall poultry farm gave in to the storm and fell. Residents of the community who spoke with our correspondent described the development as an act of God.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) is currently having running battles with the authorities of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) over the expulsion of some students of the university.