Death toll in the last weekend’s flood disaster in Suleja and Tafa Local Governments of Niger State has risen to 16, Tribune Online gathered on Monday.
Eleven victims were said to have initially perished in the flood caused by downpour which started at about 8:20p.m on Saturday and lasted until Sunday morning in the affected local governments in the state.
However a witness, Abdulrahaman Suleiman informed our reporter in Suleja that 13 people were confirmed dead as at Monday morning, just as four others who were unconscious were said to have been rushed to the General Hospital, Suleja and were still receiving medical treatment in the hospital.
The Director-General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Mallam Ibrahim Inga, however, put the death tolls at Suleja at 10, while he put that of Tafa Local Government at three from the initial one.
He said residents confirmed to the agency that the body of a middle aged woman who died when parts of her building collapsed on her during the heavy down pour was recovered on Monday morning, while two people also lost their lives in the flood along Western Avenue of Zuma Rock otherwise known as Haye Gangara , in Tafa Local Government .
The NSEMA boss also confirmed that the agency’s search and rescue team rescued one person in Tafa, adding that his officials, in conjunction with the personnel of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) as well as the personnel of the Niger State Fire Service were still taking inventory of the houses lost to the flood.
He said 90 households were affected in Suleja, highlighting that more could be uncovered when the water level reduces. He also disclosed that over 35 houses were affected in Tafa.
He said more than 500 persons could have been displaced, even though agency officials were still taking roll calls of tenants, while the inventory of landlords had been completed.
The Director-General said vehicles and personnel effects were washed away by the flood in the two councils.
He said the state government, in conjunction with the agency, would soon put up temporary camps for those who were displaced by the flood disaster immediately after the inventory was concluded, while relief materials were being mobilised to cushion the effect of the disaster.
and then