Destroys 10 houses Two bodies recovered – NSEMA We can’t confi rm – Police
By Bode Olagoke, Suleja and Aideloje Ojo, Minna
Some 48 hours after fl ood wreaked havoc in the highbrow settlements of Lagos, the nation’s commercial city, similar incident occurred in Tafa and Suleja local governments of Niger state, killing a family of 9 and some two others. It was gathered that the family of nine lived in Checheniya area of Suleja, while two other residents in Kuspa area of same town and Ayin -Nassarrawa in Tafa local government area respectively, were also carried away by the fl ood. Blueprint also learnt that the heavy downpour submerged houses and property worth several millions of naira in Kaltuma and Angwan Gwari in Suleja local government area.
No live was however lost in those areas. Specifi cally, the incident which left in its wake scores of collapsed houses, swept off the father, two mothers and their six children. Th e ‘mystery’ fl ood seized the entire Baki Iku area of Suleja by Abuja/Kaduna Expressway, with residents scampering for safety. Th e tragic development followed a heavy downpour which, Blueprint gathered, started late Saturday night, precisely at 11.00 pm, through the early hours of yesterday. One of our reporters exclusively gathered that the fl ood was last experienced in the area some seven years ago. Our correspondent who visited the scene, reports that several houses were submerged by the fl ood, leaving residents at the mercy of nature.
But surprisingly, the closest Nigerian Police outstation directly opposite the scene, denied knowledge of the disaster, even as the offi cer incharge who simply identifi ed himself as Saliu, said, “though I can see what has happened but I can’t confi rm anything because nobody has come here to report any fl ood disaster to us.” One of the victims, Hajiya Mamuna,t who narrowly escaped from a collapsed building, described the experience as a ‘nightmare’. According to her, “My two children and I went to bed around 10pm before the rain started. But something just woke me up at about 3am, then I went out to discover that all our surroundings were fl ooded. “At this point I could not sleep again. I woke my neighbours and moved out my children before the water could fl ood our building.
When the fl ood eventually took over, our building collapsed at about 9.am on Sunday morning.” Another eye witness, Sani Mohammed, who narrated his experience to Blueprint in an interview, said the entire Baki Iku area where he resides, kept vigil throughout Saturday night. According to him, “the rain started around 11.00 pm, but became heavy at around 1.00am. Th en, I got a call from a friend in our area, who phoned early in the morning to tell me that some of the houses close to his own, had already collapsed, and that I should come and help him. “So, when I got there, I saw about seven to eight houses already down, but I was told that some houses also collapsed in other area.” When asked whether there were casualties, Mohammed said: “One of my neighbours at Baki Iku Primary School, who had two wives, was killed in the incident as well as his wives and six children around 3am. We could not rescue them because the water was much. We later found one of the daughters dead this morning.
“Th is is just one family I know that all of them perished in the water. Although some people are talking about other dead bodies, I can’t confi rm that.” Director General, Niger state Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, who confi rmed the incident, disclosed that the members of the agency’s search and rescue operation were at the sites of the disasters with other volunteers. He stated that so far, two of the bodies had been recovered, adding that the search and rescue operation was still on to recover the remaining bodies. Similarly, the NSEMA boss said eff orts were on to attend to those injured and also ameliorate the suff erings of those whose houses were submerged. He said “As I am talking to you now, the search and rescue operation is going on, and now two bodies have been recovered. Initially, we thought it was eight people who lost their lives in Suleja but now it has increased to ten and we have another one from Tafa”. According to him, the details of the victims were yet to be ascertained, revealing that “so far, 11 persons have been confi rmed killed in the disasters.”
