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.
