Flood kills Keke NAPEP rider in Umuahia

<p>A middle-aged man identified as John was swept away by rain in Umuahia on Sunday evening.</p>, <p>The incident happened at about 7:20 pm in the Uzuakoli Road area of Umuahia during torrential rain in the Abia State capital.</p>, <p>The victim, who until his death was a commercial tricycle operator popularly known as Keke NAPEP, was swept into a deep gutter by the raging flood as he was trying to step into his residence after the closure of his transport business.</p>, <p>DAILY POST learnt that gushing waters covered the surface of the gutters in front of the victim’s residence, making it hard for him to know where to step.</p>, <p>Realising what had happened, family members and neighbours of the victim quickly launched a rescue party for him, searching every gutter in the neighbourhood.</p>, <p>The search, according to a resident of Uzuakoli Road, did not yield any results.</p>, <p>But on Monday morning, the victim’s lifeless body was found floating in the flood near Olokoro community in Umuahia South LGA.</p>, <p>Some residents of the Uzuakoli road who spoke about the incident described it as unfortunate, saying that the victim was a friendly and resourceful man.</p>, <p>When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer of Abia State Police Command, ASP Maureen Chioma Chinaka, said “Nobody has reported such a matter to us yet.”</p>