… says woman whose husband died rescuing drowning man
A year after a firefighter died trying to rescue a victim from inside a well, his wife and children are now finding life very tough. The wife is wondering what the heck has happened to her husband’s benefits.
According to his wife, Modupe Ogunnubi, 31, the deceased was a hero, both at home and workplace. Ogunnubi left two children for his young wife to cater for.
They are Oluyemi, 8 and Darasimi, 4. She said his kids used to look up to him. He was their world. Today, whenever their fouryear- old kid asked of their dad, she would simply give a wobbling smile and say: “Daddy travel;led he would soon come back home.” She doesn’t know how to explain to a four-year-old that their daddy was gone forever. She said the eight-year-old has come to realise that their daddy was never coming home.
As the Chief Fire-fighter, Ogunnubi could have ordered any of his men to go into the well to rescue the plumber who fell into the well, but he was always known for reserving the dirtiest and most toughest tasks for himself.
On that fateful day, Ogunnubi stared into the well and reassured the frightened plumber that he would soon be rescued. The firefighter, in the usual fire-fighter style, tied a rope around his waist and was gingerly lowered down into the well by his colleagues. After he got safely down into the well, he untied the rope and tied it around himself and the victim.
They were both being pulled up, when the rope suddenly snapped! The rescuer and rescued, plummeted back into the dark pit. Both men would later die. Nigerians would later rage and question the sorts of working tools approved for essential government workers like Ogunnubi.
When Ogunnubi was given a state burial, there had been lots of promises from the Lagos State Government and Fire Service. The promises that Modupe still remembered vividly were assurances that she and the kids would be given accommodation and some money. The children were further promised scholarship. These were supposed to be part of Ogunnubi’s benefits.
Perhaps, the most galling, was the fact that Ogunnubi died in May and his salary for that month wasn’t paid! Modupe felt the salary would have helped her and her kids in a lot of ways.
Modupe said that she knew her late husband’s gratuity could take time, she however couldn’t understand why the benefits were taking too long. She said that since her husband died and was buried, nobody had ever bothered to ask how she and her kids were faring. Modupe, who still finds it difficult to reveal details of how her husband died without breaking into tears, said: “The incident happened on a Sunday.
It was May 9, 2015. I was called the following day. I was told that my husband was rushed to Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja. When I got there, he was in oxygen mask. I was scared.
He died on May 12. He had already rescued the plumber and they were being dragged up when the rope snapped. My kids and I were made to understand that we would be given his benefits, but till date, nothing had been given to us. Nobody is even asking us how we had been coping since my husband died.”
Modupe said that she was called last month by the Lagos State Fire Fighter Service and told that Ogunnubi’s gratuity was still being processed, but nothing was said on his benefits.
The widow said she was a full housewife when her husband was alive. According to her, her greatest challenge today is payment of the children’s school fees. She said that for long now, her mother-in-law, had been running from pillar to post, to raise money for school fees and feeding.
She said: “We are surviving simply by God’s grace. I was fully dependent on my husband when he was alive. My greatest worry is paying the kids’ school fees and feeding them. My motherin- law had been struggling to meet up with these demands. It hadn’t been easy. He died in May and his salary for that month wasn’t paid. Since his death, the Fire Service hadn’t come to ask how we’ve been coping.
Since they didn’t pay his salary, they could at least have made it possible for his benefits to be paid quickly.” Modupe said she doesn’t under what was going on, but she wished the Lagos State Government would look into the matter.
She further wishes to know what was delaying payment of the benefits. Reacting to Modupe’s claims, the Lagos State Fire Service Director, Mr. Rasak Fadipe said: “She’s a friend of the house and right now, we’re trying to assist her to secure a job with us. I’m sure by now; she must have received an alert to come for a job interview, scheduled for Wednesday.
We’re not folding our arms on her issue. She came for the enlistment and we gave her concession. She must have received the alert.” Modupe, however confirmed receiving alert, inviting her for a job interview, she said it was true.
She added that she got it Monday afternoon.https://newtelegraphonline.com/life-has-been-hell/
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