Niger: How we survived ravaging flood – Survivors

Some survivors of the deadly flood that occurred in Mokwa, the headquarters of Mokwa LGA of Niger State have narrated how they escaped through ceiling while water swept away their children.

Aishatu Jibrin was among the adults who narrowly escaped death through the ceiling. She lost all her belongings and four children – two boys and two girls. 

“We sleep outside since the incident because we don’t have any relative in Mokwa. Marriage brought me here from Bida. Government doesn’t tell us where to sleep. We sleep in open space. 

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“We woke up peacefully that day. We were yet to prepare even breakfast when he heard people shouting that we should run. We thought they meant we should go inside the house. So, we ran inside. The next thing we saw in our house was water. We locked ourselves in the room and water volume kept increasing. We had to break the ceiling and entered. Water volume kept increasing up to ceiling. Then, we broke the roof and climbed up. While we adults climbed the roof, our children were already in the water. Suddenly, the building collapsed”, she said.

She called for government intervention and support to be given directly to the victims.

Musa, a teacher with Hakimi Secondary school, Mokwa, lost his life while trying to save his five-month-old-baby.

His surviving wife, Fatima Musa, a mother of three, could not control her tears when she narrated last moment with her husband in the morning on Thursday.

“We were in the room when we heard people shouting that everyone should run. We all ran out and saw large volume of water coming. I now told my husband that our baby was still inside. As he ran inside to pick the baby, the water with a high velocity shut the door and the building collapsed on him and the baby.

“My husband has been struggling to cater for the education of our children. I need help with their education. Our first child is currently in Primary one while the second one is in Nursery one. His death was worst thing that has happened to me,” she said while struggling to control her tears.

She said they were yet to receive any relief support from any quarters since Thursday when the incident happened.

The three-day Fidau prayer for the repose of the soul of her late husband and new baby was held on Sunday at her husband’s family house at Anguwan Hausa.

Dozens yet to be accounted for

Four days after the incident, dozens of victims swept away by the flood were yet to be accounted for.

Adamu Yusuf, a resident of Anguwan Hausawa lost his wife and their 43-day-old baby. His marriage was just 10 months old when the flood claimed the life of his wife, the baby and seven other members of his family out of 12.

He said his sister who visited them alongside two of her children, his mother and other children from the family were lost but only one corpse had been recovered and buried.

Seven-year-old Abdullahi, one of the Almajiri pupils who survived the incident said he would live to remember his brothers identified as Shaifullahi, Abba and Abdullahi. He said they were brought to Mokwa for Quranic education from Sabon Birni, Sokoto State.

Mariya Usman also lost 18 members of her family and only nine bodies have been recovered, the remaining nine were yet to be accounted for.

“Among the nine people we are yet to see, four are my younger brothers, my elder brother’s wife and four of his children. My elder brother lost all his family – his wife and four children,” she said.

The leader of the Hausa community in Mokwa, Alhaji Tanko Bala, told Daily Trust that most of the affected victims were sleeping in an open space because there were no proper arrangements by the government to provide shelter for them.

“Nobody goes to the primary school where the government set aside as a camp for the IDPs. It is only Almajirai that have moved there. The place is not habitable. If government wants to help the victims genuinely, they should come forward and provide them with sleeping materials. People sleep on the bare floor. 

“The only relief support we had received was from NEMA. It brought 200 bags of 25kg rice, 150 cartons of spaghetti, and tomato. They brought 200 mattresses. But they were taken back because they discovered that there was no camp. Why should they take back the mattresses, leaving the victims to sleep on the bare ground? They also brought tents but they didn’t erect them. They took them back and kept at the local government secretariat,” he said.

Ahaji Tanko said the victims were being cheated by some people, called on the authorities to provide emergency intervention to cushion effects of the disaster.

He also said the number of Almajirai that were missing was unknown, saying that “the Quranic School had over 500 pupils. Even the head of the school doesn’t know the number of his pupils, but with time, we would get to know those who are missing”.

He said between Thursday when the flood happened and Saturday, they had been observing funeral day and night.

“On Thursday, we buried people until 2am. So far, we have buried over hundred people and we are still looking for about 150 people. We lost 266 houses and over hundred goats.”

He confirmed that Niger State Government brought 6, 000 bags of 10kg rice as relief support.

Victims seek investigation

The victims are asking the state and federal governments to launch a thorough investigation into the incident to unravel where the water came from.

Adamu Yusuf, who lost nine members of his family, said the incident happened in the morning, long after rain had fallen that fateful Thursday.

“We can’t believe that this flood was caused by rainfall. The water came between 7:30 and 8:00 in the morning. I was personally at home. My wife was preparing breakfast when they called us that water was coming. Before we could run, we were already surrounded by water. People assumed I was dead, too, but thank God, I was rescued. It was Allah who saved me.”

Yusuf said they were yet to receive any Hungarian support and called on donors to hand their donations over to them directly instead of giving to the government or its officials.

“I am pained. For the past four days since the incident happened, we have only received food from neighbours who were not affected. Nothing has come from the government,” he said.

Also speaking, an elder in the community, Mahmud Baba Nnasani, asked the state and federal governments to investigate the cause of the disaster.

“I want to use this medium to ask the government to kindly investigate the source of this flood because this is not the normal rainwater flooding that we know in this environment. This water came from far. Where did it come from? And it has made life so difficult for the victims, who lost their lives, leaving loved ones behind, properties worth millions of naira destroyed, including cash and landed property.

“In my household, I lost nine people and a cousin of mine lost 16 members of his family. Another brother of mine lost his life and 10 members of his family including his wife. These are just three households and we are talking about 300 households being affected.

“In my household, we are still looking for four adults and two children. And since this thing happened, the only thing that had come to my family was N20,000 in an envelope tagged support from NLC. We are not aware of any relief support from the government or any philanthropist”, he said.

The victims told Daily Trust that they were sleeping where their houses were submerged because no camp had been provided by the government.

2 more bodies recovered, death toll rises to 153

On Saturday, two more dead bodies were recovered under the bridge and they were buried on Sunday morning.

This brings the total number of deaths to 153 as of 9 pm on Saturday.

The Director General, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Abdullahi Baba Arah confirmed that no life was lost at the Ndayako community but 58 houses were affected. At Raba, five houses were affected by one bridge.

In addition, Daily Trust gathered that the bridge connecting Koshaba and Raba communities, located about 7km from Mokwa town where the floodwaters merged with the River Niger, was washed away. Several corpses were recovered at the point where the water met the river.

Another village, Ezhi, 9km along Mokwa-Bida, was also flooded. The village is in the same line with Yagbagba, the community that was first hit by the flood before moving down to Mokwa town, where more of the devastation happened.

Victims told Daily Trust that livestock animals, including goats, chickens, ducks, and bags of food, including maize, beans, and millions of cash kept at home were swept away.

 When our correspondent visited, dead bodies were still being removed from the rubble of the submerged buildings. The search and rescue operations were being done manually by victims and good Samaritans.

Meanwhile, President Tinubu has also expressed concern over the devastating flooding in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, which has led to the loss of lives and the displacement of numerous families.

The president, on his X handle on Friday night, directed the immediate activation of the National Emergency Response Centre and had since been fully briefed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the scale of the disaster and the urgent humanitarian needs.

President Tinubu also directed security agencies to assist in emergency operations and mandated that NEMA and the National Emergency Response Centre provide continuous coordination and updates.

He called on all Nigerians to keep the people of Mokwa in their thoughts and prayers.

“In times of adversity, we draw strength from our unity, resilience, and shared humanity,” the President said.

Also, former President Muhammadu Buhari has sent message of condolence following the death of more than one hundred persons in flash floods that destroyed homes and displaced thousands of residents earlier last week in Niger State.

In his message to the bereaved families, governments and the people of Niger State, the former president said the tragic incident had left him shocked and devastated as it did many people in different parts of the world.

“I am deeply pained by the loss of lives due to the floods in Niger State. The deaths are painful and devastating. Condolences to the families and friends of all those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon.”