The Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA) says it has rescued a man who mistakenly fell into the lagoon.

The agency’s permanent secretary, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said this in a statement on Friday.

Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said LASEMA received a call at 7:43 a.m. through the Lagos State toll-free emergency numbers 767 and 112 that a man had reportedly fallen into the Lagos lagoon at Falomo bridge.

“Following the distress call, LASEMA activated the state’s emergency response plans with the swift arrival of the LASEMA response team from the Lekki zone at the incident scene at 8:02 a.m.

“On arrival of the team at the incident scene, investigations revealed that the man had been resuscitated and had identified himself as Segun Amoo.

“He narrated how he mistakenly fell into the Lagos lagoon at the aforementioned location,” he said.

Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said the information gathered from officials of the Lagos State Water Authority (LASWA) at their Falomo office revealed that Mr Amoo was seen struggling for survival inside the lagoon.

“The LASWA officials said our staff had, around 11:00 p.m. yesterday, observed Amoo struggling for survival in the lagoon waters after he fell off the bridge, leading to the LASWA rescue team’s response.

“Amoo was rescued by the LASWA officials and subsequently stabilised by the agency’s pre-hospital care paramedics.”

He said Mr Amoo said he was a resident of Ilaje-Bariga.  Mr Oke-Osanyintolu said the LASEMA response team visited the address and handed him over to his relatives.

“He also clarified that he was not suicidal while narrating how the incident of his fall off the bridge occurred,” said the LASEMA official.

He said the victim’s brother, Atteji Benuwa, claimed that the family had been searching for him for a while and thanked the emergency responders for Mr Amoo’s rescue. 

(NAN)