Emotions ran high as Governor Abubakar Sani Bello of Niger State, on Monday, commiserated with victims of a flood disaster that ravaged Suleja, and other neighbouring towns to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In fact, the Gwagwalada area and parts of the federal capital city were also ravaged.
Amidst tears, the victims in Suleja, who are still counting their losses, narrated painful and touching tales of what they went through in the early Saturday morning downpour.
One of such families lost four of its six children to the flood at Anguwan Gwari.
“It is sad that one family lost four children. What do you say to such parents, the best we can do at this point is to pray for God to guide and protect them and to give them the peace and strength to bear their losses”, Sani Bello said.
Following the flood disaster in the Suleja Local Government Area, which claimed 13 lives, the Governor, directed the demolition of all structures built on water-ways in major towns of the State.
The Governor gave the directive, according to a statement by his spokeswoman, Mrs. Mary Noel-Berje, when he visited communities affected by flood disaster for a first hand information and to commiserate with the deceased families as well as Suleja Emirate.
Areas affected by the disaster include Anguwar Gwari, Almadeenat, Paulosa, Rafin Sanyi, Madalla, BJY Kwanba, Double Tee area and Anguwar Kuyanbana among others.
Records show that nine persons are still missing, with seven injured; and a total of 431 houses, including a school and a place of worship were affected.
The Governor who described the incident as unfortunate noted that people are in the habit of building on water-ways indiscriminately, not minding the dangers involved, adding that water will always find its way no matter how long it takes.
He appealed to the people of the State to cooperate and support the Urban Development and the Environmental Protection Agencies, and the Local Government Authority in their duty to enforce the directive of identifying houses on water channels, relocating them to safer places, and demolishing the houses, to avoid recurrence of the disaster.
In the meantime, the government has outlined measures to avoid a recurrence of the disaster. These include the evacuation of refuse and disilting of water channels, expansion of culverts and opening up of alternative roads among others.
Also speaking, the Senator representing Niger East Senatorial District of the State, Alhaji Muhammed Sani Musa who also sympathised with the victims pointed out that building indiscriminately on water channels is one of the reasons behind the National Land Drainage bill he sponsored in the upper legislative chamber to proffer solutions to flooding in the country.
The lawmaker said he has communicated with the Director General of the National Emergency Agency (NEMA), as well as signed the necessary documents for possible intervention to cushion the effects of the disaster on the victims,
In their separate contributions, the Director General Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga and the Chairman, Suleja Local Government Area Abdullahi Shuaibu Maje identified human factor as responsible for the flooding while calling on residents to always obey government warnings and adhere to safety measures suggested by disaster experts.
The Governor also visited the Sarkin Zazzau Suleja, Alhaji Awwal Ibrahim, at his palace where he commiserated with him over the disaster and intimated him on the measures to be adopted by Government.
He sought his support in educating the people in his domain to ensure they cooperate with relevant government agencies to avoid building on waterways.
Responding, the Sarkin Zazzau Suleja who described the incident as unfortunate despite the earlier warnings, commended the Governor for his visit while appealing to him to come up with a robust plan that will give the town a facelift.
It would be recalled that the Niger State Government had, in a recent statement, appealed to all riverine communities, particularly the flood prone areas in the State and those situated along the tributaries of river Niger to be cautious and pay attention to the rising water levels in their areas following the predictions by NEMA, NIHSA and NIMET that many Local Government Areas in the State and other States, fall within the highly probable flood risk areas for 2020.