One Nuhu Sa’adu, popularly called Asha, who is a tea vendor had a very grievous experience over the weekend as he lost two wives and six children through flood after a heavy rain in Suleja and Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State.
Nuhu Shuaibu, the Ward head of Chechenia Suleja area where they witnessed a high occurrence of the incident, said eight of the victims were members of the same family.
Sa’adu lost his two wives (Suwaiba and Hajara) and six children (Ikilima, Musa, Yusuf, Zainab, Asmau and Nana Khadija).
According to Daily Trust, Mallam Sa’adu said that the incident occurred while they were asleep; it was the sound of a section of the house that collapsed that woke them up. when fully awake, they discovered that they had been submerged and no one could offer assistance.
Sa’adu said initially he had two of the children in his hands while the first wife had others but they were eventually overpowered by the wave of the water.
“The next thing I could remember was that I was lucky to have been pegged by a tree which helped me to escape death,” he said.
NSEMA Director General Alhaji Ibrahim Ahmed Inga who confirmed the incident said the agency’s search and rescue operation and volunteers were at the sites of the disaster.
He said the casualties could be more as many people were said by the villagers to be still missing.
“As I am talking to you now the search and rescue operation is going on. Initially, we thought it was eight people who lost their lives in Suleja but now it has increased to 10 and we have another one from Tafa,” he said.
He said medical personnel had been drafted to the areas to provide emergency support for those in urgent need, while relief materials were being moved to cushion the effect of the disaster.
