Man whose son died in an Illegal refinery tells his story

Mr. Uche Okwuodo, is a carpenter whose 17 year old son Onyekachi Okwuodo recently died from an explosion in an illegal refinery in Abaezi community, Egbema, Obaji Local Government Area of Imo State.

Weeks after the incident, Mr. Uche Okwuodo isn’t ready to come to terms that his son and at least 150 persons were burnt in the fire breakout.

He remarks that, if he had had any premonition that his beloved son was to be consumed by the fire, he would have done everything possible to keep him home that fateful day.

Okwuodo, along with his wife, a petty trader in their village, Etekuru, were left shattered by the incident.

Speaking of the incident, the Father narrated how it all happened, how his son got wind of the job through a friend, who also died in the explosion.

What was most painful to the father was the fact the very day his son left for the job was his first and last.

The grieving father said:

“I still cannot believe that my son Onyekachi is no more. We had great times together. He told me about his dream and he was reading and working hard to actualize it. I told him not to worry that, if he passes his JAMB, we would know what to do to raise money to further his education, but he has died with the dream.

“Onyekachi is the second out of my five children. He was well-behaved. He was 17 years old and wrote his SSCE exams last year and hoped to further his education, but death has ended everything for him.

“I still remember how he was introduced to the job at the refinery by his friend. He had never been there before. His friend came to our house to fetch him and they left together. It was a journey of no return for the innocent boys.

“There are so many other youths working at the refinery, but I don’t think any of them is alive now after what we heard that happened there.”

Recalling how news of his son’s death got to him, the father said:

“I was at home when my first son rushed to the house and told me that his brother had been killed in that explosion, because a loud noise was heard all over the community.

“I could not and refused to believe it, until I followed him to the scene, but we could not get near there. The fire was too much. We had to watch it from afar and do nothing as the fire raged on. My son was being roasted to death and all I could do was to watch helplessly.”

According to reports, the illegal refinery was something that provided youths with temporary job opportunity and an avenue to make quick money at the time depending on the ability of the person to take risks.