’14 killed’ in Suleja flood

Fourteen people are believed to have been killed after a downpour resulted into flooding in Suleja, Niger state.

The rain was said to have begun on Saturday and ended on Sunday.

The incident occurred at Banki-Iku and Chachania communities in the Suleja local government area of the state.

Property worth millions of naira were destroyed and houses submerged.

It was learnt that while a family lost eight of its members, another lost six.

Local divers carried out the rescue operation before the arrival of the officials of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The death toll is likely to increase as some families are still searching for their members.

Abdullahi Maje, chairman of Suleja local government, Malam has confirmed 10 persons missing and two bodies recovered in flood in the area on Sunday.

Maje also said that 100 houses were affected in the incident, adding that eight houses were washed away in the flood, which followed 10 hours of heavy rainfall.

Witnesses had said that eight members of a family were suspected to have died in the flood which affected Suleja and Tafa local government areas of Niger.

The head of the household was said to have survived but his two wives and six children were not lucky.

Many people struggled to bale water out of their houses.

Mohammed Mohammed, the district police officer-in-charge of division ‘A’ police station in Suleja, 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,” he said.

“Police are providing security around the scene so that hoodlums will not cart away victims’ property especially those lying outside.”

He promised to furnish more details on the incident.

The National Emergency Management Agency was not also able to give details.

Isaiah Dikko, a witness, said those who lost their lives could not be rescued because of the time the incident happened.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has alerted Nigerians to brace up for serious rainfall this year.

At least 10 states have been affected by flooding in the last three months.

On Saturday, residents of Lekki and Victoria Island in Eti Osa local government area of Lagos were trapped in their homes as a result of flood. The water also damaged vehicles.