The body of a man was found in the septic tank of a community toilet at Sokwenya, a suburb of the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality in the Eastern Region, five days after he went missing.
48-year-old Teye Emmanuel, a sprayer by profession, had told his children immediately he returned from Accra where he was staying that he was visiting the local public toilet located some 200 meters away.
However, concerns were raised after the father of four failed to return home hours after he left.
Narrating the circumstances leading to the bizarre incident, a community leader for Osekuse, Seyelor Jonathan Teye Tawiah Korletey, who operates a sawmill about a hundred meters away from the place of convenience disclosed that the deceased’s children informed him Saturday morning that their father did not return home after visiting the toilet earlier that day.
“I was in the shop in the morning when a young lady was discussing with her sister that their father told them he was visiting the toilet but failed to return so they had been looking for him here and there,” he said.
According to him, he organized a search team who searched around the facility including the septic tank for the missing man but to no avail.
An announcement was made at a local information center the following day (Sunday) yet the deceased did not show up after which the incident was reported to the Odumase-Krobo Police.
On Thursday, five days after the deceased had gone missing, it was reported that a group of children who visited the sawmill said they had spotted a dead body in the septic tank behind the community toilet.
“I was in the shop and they ran to me that 'daddy, we’ve found somebody in the toilet'…then immediately I informed the family members and we informed the police,” he recounted.
The body was subsequently pulled out and taken to the Atua Government Hospital by the police for autopsy after which it was released the following day to the family for burial.
According to him, nobody could explain how the 48-year-old ended up in the septic tank which was covered with iron sheets nailed to wooden planks.
Asked if the tank posed any dangers to the community he answered in the affirmative, adding that the cover was put in place to minimize the danger.
To avert further incidents of this nature, he said the issue has been reported to the Lower Manya Krobo Municipal Assembly which regulates the facility to take steps to cover the manhole.
The attendant at the facility, Terkpertey Daddy told GhanaWeb that he did not realize when the deceased visited the toilet.
The 38-year-old wife of the deceased, Tetteh Comfort, described her late husband as a quiet and reserved person.
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