Motorcyclist dies in well while trying to rescue two-year-old

By Yusuf Muhammed

A commercial motorcyclist, popularly known as an Okada rider, has died inside a well at 2 Paul Street, off Arowolo Street, Abule Egba, Lagos State, in southwest Nigeria.

Our reporter gathered that on October 20, 2026, at about 9 a.m., one Mrs. Roseline Adebayo, employed as a sweeper in the compound, arrived to sweep along with her two-year-old daughter, identified as Maama.

While sweeping, she discovered that her daughter was no longer nearby. She searched the compound but could not find the child. She then went to the well, called her daughter’s name, and heard her voice from inside, prompting her to run outside and raise an alarm for help in rescuing the girl.

Abdullahi Abbah, the Okada rider, and his friends who were outside the building ran into the compound to assist her.

Abbah volunteered to enter the well to help rescue the girl, but in the process he too fell inside.

Residents were said to have called for emergency services. The Lagos State Fire Service and the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority, which later arrived at the scene, were able to bring out the body of Abdullahi Abbah.

As of the time of filing this report, efforts were still ongoing to retrieve the body of the little girl, while Abbah’s corpse was released to his family for burial the same day, according to Islamic rites.