Many people have lost their lives in flashes of flood that swept through some towns and villages of Niger, Gombe, Borno and Kebbi states.
Report reaching us at Greenbarge Reporters online newspaper said that four persons were drowned in flood waters in Gombe State, whereas Borno and Niger States witnessed the death of two residents.
The Public Relations Officer of Gombe State Police Command, Buhari Abdullahi, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), in a statement, said that he received reports of four incidents of drowning that occurred at Hayin Kwarin-Misau; Bojude, Bajoga and Difa communities in Akko, Kwami, Funakaye and Yamaltu Deba local government areas of the state.
He said that the victims were children and teenagers who drowned in rivers, erosion sites and unprotected water channels.
Two women also died in Wovi Community of Damboa Local Government Area of Borno State, with several houses destroyed in Rumirgo, Askira Uba Local Government Area, displacing several families.
A statement by the media aide to the governor, Dauda Iliya, said that Governor Babagana Zulum extended his sympathy to the victims and their families.
The incident occurred less than a year after a deadly flood submerged communities across Borno State, killing scores of people and washing away homes, farmlands, among others.
Similarly, the corpses of two children, a boy and a nine-year-old girl were discovered in a drainage after a heavy rainfall that broke out in Minna, Niger State yesterday, July 1.
The children were returning from the market when the girl slipped and fell into the drainage.
It was learnt that as the flood was carrying her away, her brother, an 11-year-old, was shouting to residents in the neighbourhood to help him rescue his sister, who was being swept away by the flood.
The people could not help due to the level the water had reached and the force it carried.
They watched helplessly as the water carried the little girl away while the brother went back to their residence to inform their parents about the tragedy.
The father of the girl was later contacted to identify his daughter’s corpse at a tunnel on Mandela Street (more than five kilometers from where the flood carried her), and when he got there, he found the corpse of the little girl and that of another boy who was also killed by the flood.
Spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Hussaine Ibrahim, expressed shock over the tragedy and said the agency would visit the girl’s family to find out more details.
“The agency is not aware of the disaster, but my people will visit the home of the girl at Tunga tomorrow to meet with the parents.”
Meanwhile, following recent flooding in Rafin Atiku Ward, Birnin Kebbi, Kebbi State, Deputy Governor, Senator Umar Abubakar Tafida visited the area to assess the damage, which residents blamed on heavy rain and blocked drainage.
Accompanying the Deputy Governor were SEMA Chairman, Bello Yakubu Rilisco, Environment Commissioner, Alhaji Musa Mohammad Tungulawa, and Youth and Sports Commissioner, Comrade Nura Bala Fingilla. The flooding was caused by a clogged major drainage channel.
Affected resident, Malam Idris Abdulrahman told journalists: “The water entered our house at night. We lost bags of grains, mattresses, and even some parts of the wall collapsed. This has never happened like this before.”
Senator Tafida directed the Environment Ministry and SEMA to clear blocked drains and assist affected residents.
