The family of a Senior Secondary School 3 female student of Muslim College Oworonsoki, Lagos, has been thrown into mourning after lightning struck and killed 19-year-old Celestina Farotide, who was about to start her final examination the same morning.
The victim’s father was said to be in shock and disbelief and had refused to show up to collect the corpse, saying, “It cannot be my daughter”. The aunt of the deceased, Christiana Idowu, who described her as gentle, quiet and respectful said she saw her corpse in the hospital after the family received an emergency call from one of Celestina’s friends. An eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity because she was notpermitted to talk to journalists, told Punch that the sad incident occurred on Monday.
She said, “We had finished with the morning assembly, but some students were still comingin. Celestina had prepared her desk in readiness for the West Africa Senior Secondary Certificate Examination’s practical they were to have that morning.” It was learnt that she went out to buy the food she would eat and when she was returning to her class in company with otherstudents, tragedy struck. “The lightning came in their direction and immediately three of the school girls fell down. Two of them rose up and ran and Celestina rose up too. Then the lightening struck the second time, and she (Celestine) fell finally on the floor and did not rise again.
“She was immediately taken to the teachers’ staff room, where a teacher was asked to take her to the Gbagada General Hospital. It was there she was confirmed dead,” said an eyewitness. Reacting to the girl’s death, the traditional ruler of Oworonsoki, Oba Bashir Oloruntodupefun, said the gods are angry because Oworosoki land had been desecrated by strangers and that government is taking over ancestral lands and selling them to non-indigenes. He said, “It’s a pity the girl died. The circumstances surrounding her death are mysterious because the girl was never sick. From what happened, we can all see the gods are making demands.
“The shrines that should be used for sacrifices have been swept away in water. And the land we have is being sold by government officials to their friends and they send military men to threaten us.
“Government needs to give us our land back. The real Oworo is submerged in waters. We want them to help sand fill those places taken over by water because many cultural heritage has been lost. If this is done, evil will no longer occur.”
The young girl will only be buried in the area after sacrifices had been made to appease the gods.