The body of Dr. Allwell Orji was on Wednesday found floating around the CMS axis of the Lagoon on Lagos Island four days after the he was reportedly jumped into the lagoon around Third Mainland Bridge.
Our correspondent learnt that his body recovered by the combine team of the Marine Police and divers in the Lagos State Waterways Authority, (LASWA) who had been patrolling the waterways since the tragic incident.
The General Manager, Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA, ‘Bisola Kamson, said the tidal waves movement of the waterways towards the CMS axis informed the aggressive search for the body of the late doctor along the axis.
As of the time of filing this report the cloth on the body recovered matched with what the late doctor was wearing; that is the ‘Chinos’ trousers and long sleeves shirts.
The family has since confirmed the body as Orji’s and was with the Marine Police
Although, the state government said that investigations into the circumstances surrounding the tragic incident would continue, the body was also identified by the driver in the presence of the Commissioner of Police Lagos State, Mr Fatai Owoseni, who assured and that body will be handed over to the family.
Commenting on the recovery efforts, Kamson said: “Since the recent development and tidal waves of the lagoon moves towards Elegbata,CMS axis of the Marina, we had intensified the search around that axis. That is where tidal movement moves towards. So any drop from the (Third Mainland Bridge) scene of the incident would move towards CMS Elegbata axis.
“Our monitoring teams are back from water. We had local divers who also worked in collaboration with LASWA and Marine police. You know that different people were patrolling different area in the water. The water body is so large that everyone will search everywhere.
“The family members came and were able to identify that the body that was wearing a ‘chinox” trousers about one and half hours ago. It was an unfortunate incident, but Lagosians must be safety conscious at all times, even while driving on the bridge.”
Also speaking General Management Agency, LASEMA, Adeshina Tiamiyu, who expressed condolence on behalf of the government to the family, assured that government would still embark on investigations into the incident
According to him, the body will be handed over to the family while investigation continues.
Tiamiyu said the state government has declared the search closed