CITIZENS COMPASS– FOLLOWING alleged negligence by Ado -Odo Otta Local Government, Ogun State, residents of Joju area have been taxing themselves to remove a corpse which had laid on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway since Thursday, March 9, 2023.
Residents said they decided to tax themselves since the council did not remove the corpse despite that it was well informed about the development.
Some of the residents told Citizens Compass of possible outbreak of diseases in the area should the corpse spend more days on the Expressway.
The residents said they woke up on Thursday morning to discover the corpse lying very close to Obaniibasiri Complex and they have since drawn the attention of the council to this but no action was taken.
A road side trader, Maxwell Anderson said the corpse may burst any moment from now and there are signs that attest to this.
“The corpse is stinking and this has caused poor patronage as customers are afraid to stop and patronise us.” He said.
Apart from Maxwell, some shop owners in the area said their health are in danger should the corpse stay more days without being attended to.
One of them, Madam Oluwakemi Ogungbemide said, “On sighting the corpse on Thursday, we immediately put a call across the council officials and political leaders in the area but they all turned deaf ears for the past three days.
“Today (Saturday, March 11, 2023), we called some local government officials to remind them but we were told that nothing can be done till Monday.
“One of them advised us to make internal arrangements by paying the council officers in charge of this so that they can come and remove the corpse before the official hours of Monday.” said the shop owner.
As at Saturday evening, residents were contributing N100 per head for the internal arrangements as the corpse laid on the expressway without being attended to.
At press time, some shop owners at Obanibasiri Complex have hurriedly closed for the day for fear of the unknown.
Some of them said the corpse may expose them to serious health challenges.
Efforts to get the Chairman, Ado-Odo Ota Local Government, Sheriff Musa were unsuccessful at press time.
