Students Weep For Flood Victim

TRAGEDY! GIMPA Student, Abigail Opoku Adjei

The campus of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) was filled with grief and anxiety on Tuesday evening when a memorial service was held in honour of the late Abigail Opoku-Adjei, the 25-year-old who died in the recent floods that hit parts of Accra.

The deceased's family members joined management and students of the school for the ceremony preceding the actual burial and funeral which, according to  Getrude, Abigail's sister, is scheduled for November 25, 2011 at the Ebenezer congregation of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana at Mamprobi.

Over one thousand students gathered at the GB Auditorium of GIMPA to mourn their colleague who, until her untimely death, was a level 200 Marketing student of the school.

Abigail was killed by a collapsing wall of her family residence near the Kingsby Hotel in Achimota, after calling the attention of members of the household to the rising floods.

Her lifeless body was later discovered under the collapsed wall.

Abigail's father, Mr Opoku-Adjei, who was at the memorial service, could not hide his grief when he got the opportunity to address the students who were clad in black and red attires.

He narrated how painful the death of his daughter had been for the family.

He recalled how his late beloved daughter got to the house around 11 pm on the night of Tuesday, October 25, 2011 and drew his attention to the rising flood whilst asking them to evacuate to safety.

At the time, he said, the flood waters had started entering their rooms.

Mr. Opoku-Adjei noted that he and his son, Henry, had no option but to carry all the ladies to safety, only for them to realise Abigail had gone missing.

They decided to mount an intensive search for her but eventually had to give up when the water level got to a point (shoulder level) they could no longer continue the search.

Two or so hours after the flood waters receded, Mr Opoku-Adjei narrated, Henry, the deceased's elder brother, decided to go round the house to see the extent of damage only to find his sister crushed by a wall.

With a heavy heart, the deceased's father said, 'I felt her pulse and realized she was gone. It was the flood waters that stayed on our compound for over one-and-a-half hours that caused the damage.'

A colleague of the late Abigail who read her biography could not hold back her tears as she summed up the days she spent on earth.

On his part, Rector of GIMPA, Prof. Yaw Agyemang Badu, consoled the family of Abigail, whilst taking the opportunity to advise students of the school to emulate Abigail's lifestyle and the way she managed to touch lives in different ways.

Until her untimely death, Abigail worshipped at the Ebenezer congregation of the Presbyterian Church at Mamprobi where she played an active role.

Apart from leading praises and worship, she was a member of a group in the church called 'Stewards' and an officer of the church's brigade.

Getrude, Abigail's younger sister who spoke to DAILY GUIDE , said the family was going through a lot of pain as a result of Abigail's death.

A friend of the deceased, Ernest Okanta, a member of Ebenezer congregation of the Presbyterian Church, was virtually in tears when the paper contacted him to find out the mood of the congregation.

In all this, Ernest said, 'we give thanks and praise to God for he knows best. May he find a resting place for our beloved sister so that when we all meet in heaven one day we will rejoice to his good works'.

By Charles Takyi-Boadu