By Aideloje Ojo Abuja
Th e death tolls recorded in the weekend fl ood in Suleja and Tafa local government areas of Niger state has risen to 16, the state Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said. Eleven persons were initially reported to have died on Sunday as a result of the fl ood disaster, but the NSEMA DirectorGeneral, Malam Ibrahim Inga, said yesterday in Minna that three persons died in Tafa as against one person reported in the media. Also, a witness, Abdulrahaman Suleiman, told
our correspondent yesterday in Suleja that 13 people were confi rmed dead as at yesterday morning, while four others who were in coma were still receiving medical attention at the General Hospital, Suleja. Inga, however, put the death toll at Suleja at the nine instead of the initial 10, while he puts that of Tafa at three from the initial one. He said residents confi rmed to the Agency that the body of a middle-age woman who died when parts of her building collapsed on her during the heavy downpour was recovered yesterday morning, while two people also died in the fl ood. Th e director-general confi rmed that the Agency’s search and rescue team rescued one person in Tafa.
He also said although Agency offi cials along with the personnel of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) were still taking inventory of the houses lost to the fl ood, 90 households were aff ected in Suleja, adding that more could be discovered when the water level reduces. He also disclosed that over 35 houses were aff ected in Tafa. He said more than 500 persons could have been displaced, even though Agency officials were still taking roll calls of tenants, while the inventory of landlords had been completed. He said the Agency would put up temporary camps for those displaced after the inventory was concluded, while relief materials were being mobilised for them
