Flood kills five, submerges bridge in Abuja

Heavy flooding reportedly killed a family of five and submerged over 20 buildings in Gwagwalada area council of Abuja on Saturday.

Idriss Abbas, director-general of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), said the body of one of the missing family members was recovered while a search is on for the remaining four.

“Gwagwalada is flooded from Giri. A family of five was swept by flood at Giri. We got one body and are still searching for four. We rescued six people and are in the hospital,” Abbas said.

“The flood damaged a lot of houses and property, especially at Gwagwalada. The residents are still saying some are missing but they cannot give us the identities of such persons who they claim to be missing.”

He added that FEMA rescued six people who were subsequently taken to hospital for medical care.

The flood, caused by a downpour, started from Friday night to the early hours of Saturday also submerged Gwagwalada bridge linking Abuja to Lokoja.

Motorists were forced to take a detour while others parked for the flood to subside.

Some residents of the area reportedly said flooding was a common occurrence in the community because of its proximity to a riverine area.

Yunusa Dogo, a father of six whose house collapsed, said he was asleep when water submerged his house.

“The level of destruction is devastating; it is quite unfortunate that the flood has affected many people in this community,” he said.

“I was asleep when the water submerged my house. I had to quickly move my children to a neighbour’s house.”

Sarah Luka, another resident, said: “As you can see no way for the water to flow down to the stream in the whole community.

“We have lost so many of our goods to the flood. I and my children couldn’t sleep all through the night because of the flood.”

Many of the residents and motorists reportedly blamed the government for failing to put in place measures to handle emergencies.