Stories by Helen Oji With agencies
Th e Chairman of Suleja Local Government Area of Niger state, Malam Abdullahi Maje, has confi rmed 10 persons missing and two bodies recovered in fl ood in the area on Sunday. Maje also said 100 houses were aff ected in the incident, adding that eight houses were washed away in the fl ood, which followed 10 hours of heavy rainfall. Witnesses had said that eight members of a family were suspected to have died in the fl ood, which aff ected Suleja and Tafa Local Government Areas of the state.
Th e head of the household was said to have survived, but his two wives and six children were not lucky. Reports have it that many families were aff ected, with household eff ects fl oating in the water and many people struggled to bale water out of their houses. Th e District Police Offi cer in-charge of Division ‘A’ Police station in Suleja, Mohammed Mohammed, could not confi rm the casualty fi gure but said his men had visited the fl ood scenes. He said the fl ood aff ected many people who built their houses along the river bank; many houses have been destroyed with unconfi rmed number of deaths recorded.
“Police are providing security around the scene so that hoodlums will not cart away victims’ property especially those lying outside,” he added. Mohammed promised to furnish more details on the incident. Th e National Emergency Management Agency was not also able to give details. Meanwhile, the Village Head of Hayin Nasarawa-Iku, Malam Abdulkareem Samanja in the nearby Tafa Local Government Area decried the loss of property. Samanja said he was still awaiting report from ward heads on the incident. At Suleja General Hospital, Musliu Mohammed, a 17-yearold boy, recovered from the fl ood and brought into the hospital by sympathizers, was placed on admission
