Three persons died while about 10 others
were missing when flood ravaged Suleja, Niger State on Sunday. Over 100
houses were badly affected while property including vehicles worth
millions of naira were destroyed by the flood.
Eyewitnesses told the News Agency of
Nigeria that eight members of a household were suspected to have died in
the flood which affected Suleja and Tafa Local Government areas of
Niger State.
The head of the household was said to have survived but his two wives and six children were not lucky.
The NAN reported that many families were affected with household effects floating on the water.
Many people struggled to scoop water out of their houses.
The District Police Officer in-charge of
Division ‘A’ Police station in Suleja, Mr. Mohammed Mohammed, could not
confirm the casualty figure but said his men had visited the flood
scenes.
“The flood affected many people who
built their houses along the river bank; many houses have been destroyed
with unconfirmed 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 said.
At the Suleja General Hospital, a 17
year-old boy, Musliu Mohammed, rescued from the flood and brought into
the hospital by sympathisers, was placed on admission.
A Search and Rescue Officer of NEMA,
Egrigba Micheal,, who spoke to journalists, said that the agency rescued
a victim and rushed him to the Suleja General Hospital.
He said, “We got a call from our zonal
coordinator, Mohammed Idris that there was a flood in Suleja. So we
quickly moved to Suleja. We have seen a lot of devastation the rain has
caused. Many of the houses were submerged while some were completely
rooted out. Many properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed.
“There was one house that had eight people completely dead although we didn’t see their corpses.
“In a family of eight, only one person was brought out dead. But the other seven are still missing.
“We will go back to write our report and
submit to our boss. Certainly tomorrow they will come back and do
another assessment before there can be any relief. The rain was really
devastating.” he said.
The Chairman of Suleja Local Government
Area, Abdullahi Maje, however, said that about 10 persons had been
declared missing since the flood took place.
He said, “The flood I think started
around 12 midnight till this morning and affected more than 100 houses
around Suleja local Government Area apart from Tafa local Government
Area.
“There are about 10 missing persons
within Suleja that the flood took away. Three bodies have been found, we
are still searching for the remaining persons dead or alive.
“We have made a call to the Federal
government through NEMA. They responded quickly and came to Suleja and
also the State Emergency Management Agency came in from Minna this
morning.” he said
Meanwhile, the Village Head of Hayin
Nasarawa-Iku in the nearby Tafa Local Government Area Mallam Abdulkareem
Samanja, decried the loss of property.
He said he was still awaiting report from ward heads on the incident.
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