Tragedy At Edo High Court, As Man Falls, Die From 5th Floor Into Empty Lift Hole

A man identified as Moses Airiagbonkpa, on Tuesday died after
falling into the empty lift hole from the 5th floor of Edo State
High Court building in Benin City.

The father of five, said to be in his 60s, was said to be at the
High Court 10 for a case involving his community and another, when
he allegedly told his kinsmen that he was going to ease
himself.

One of the kinsmen, Mr. Johnson Obanor, who was with the
deceased at the court, said they came to the court from Ugieowen
Community, in Oredo Local Government Area of the state.

Obanor further told journalists that after their lawyer informed
them that their case was no longer going to hold, the deceased
decided to go and ease himself but failed to return at the expected
time, which he said prompted them to launch a search for him.

“We came here this morning, the three of us and we entered the
court and sat down before the arrival of our lawyer. We later
discovered that the court is not sitting. When our lawyer came, she
went to the table to go and take a date.

“He (the deceased) got up and told us he want to urinate and we
told him to return early so that we can go home after the lawyer
has taken a date.

“We waited for a long period but he did not show up. So, we
assumed he has gone downstairs to wait for us where we parked our
vehicle.

“Then I told the other man that we should go to the parking lot
to check if he is there, but unfortunately we did not see him. We
sat down in the vehicle and tried to contact him but he was not
picking his calls.

“We decided to search for him within the premises and met a
lawyer who asked us to join the crowd to climb the staircase.

“Sadly, we met our brother lying down on the floor and someone
said he fell from upstairs. They traced the blood and found he got
stucked (in the lift hole),” he said.

A senior staff of the High Court who pleaded anonymity,
explained that the state government contracted a construction
company to renovate the court building and also reactivate the lift
that had been out of use several years ago.

He said, “We used to have a lift that has gone bad and this
administration is fixing it. The company carrying out the
renovation work removed the old lift and is still working on
it.

“We were told the man came to the court and wanted to ease
himself. He went to where the lift is and fell through.”

He however added that there was a ribbon at the door to the
empty lift hole indicating no passage.

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