For two teenage brothers in Ondo State, Tuesday, August 5th started like any other day—with summer classes and the simple plan to make it home before dark.
Like many students that day, the boys had ducked into their father’s mechanic workshop to wait out the storm. When the downpour finally eased, they said their goodbyes and set off.
Hours of heavy rainfall had transformed the usually manageable waterway into a raging torrent.
The footbridge they’d used all their lives was gone, swept away by waters that now churned with debris and moved with deadly force.
According to report, when their father arrived home to an empty house, that parent’s sixth sense kicked in—the one that knows something isn’t right.
He organized neighbors into search parties, flashlights cutting through the growing darkness as voices called out the boys’ names.
The search ended with the kind of discovery that changes a family forever. The brothers were found at different points along the river, their bodies tangled in the debris that had claimed the bridge.
“This river has always been dangerous during the rainy season,” one resident said, voice heavy with frustration. “We’ve complained so many times. The government needs to act before more lives are lost.”
