The Oyo State Fire Service Agency on Sunday recovered the body of a 33-year-old man from a deep well at a Rain Oil Filling Station in the Alakia–Adegbayi area of Ibadan, Egbeda Local Government Area of the state.
Investigations revealed that the incident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. when the victim, whose name was withheld, reportedly entered an abandoned well to clean debris and became trapped.
Confirming the incident in a statement on Sunday, the Special Adviser to Governor Seyi Makinde on Fire Reform and Chairman of the Oyo State Fire Service Agency, Moroof Akinwande, said the agency received a distress call at 10:53 a.m. indicating that a person had fallen into a deep well.
“This agency received a distress call on Sunday, January 25, 2026, at exactly 10:53 hours through a telephone call that someone was trapped in a well”, the statement partly read.
“Fire officers led by ACFS Bamidele Samsudeen swiftly responded to the scene. Upon arrival, the officers swung into action with the necessary rescue equipment, recovered the body and handed it over to a team of policemen from Gbagi Police Division, Ibadan,” he added.
Akinwande said the rescue operation was jointly carried out with the Federal Fire Service, Ibadan Command.
According to him, preliminary findings indicated that the victim died from inhalation of ammonia gas while attempting to clean debris inside the abandoned well.
Meanwhile, Akinwande had earlier disclosed that the state recorded 246 fire incidents in 2025.
PUNCH Online reports that while speaking with journalists in Ibadan on Friday, he said that during the year under review, 42 persons were rescued alive, while 30 bodies were recovered from various rescue operations across the state.
He provided a monthly breakdown of fire incidents, stating that 29 cases were recorded in January, 27 in February, 22 in March, 24 in April, 24 in May, 17 in June, 15 in July, 14 in August, 24 in September, 13 in October, 13 in November and 21 in December.
He urged residents to exercise caution around abandoned wells and hazardous environments to prevent avoidable deaths.
