In a tragic incident on Saturday, three teenage girls drowned in a pond in the Buji Local Government Area of Jigawa State while cutting grass to feed their livestock.
The spokesperson for the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Jigawa State, ASC Badaruddeen Tijuani, confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday, stating that the incident occurred around 11 a.m. near Tulla village.
The deceased were identified as Fatima Sule, 12; Nasiya Sale, 12; and Huwaila Sa’adu, 13—all residents of Tulla village.
According to the statement, NSCDC personnel in the area received a distress call from community members at approximately 11:10 a.m. The officers, along with the Divisional Disaster Management team, quickly responded and rushed to the scene for a rescue operation.
“With the combined efforts of the local community, the bodies of the three girls were recovered after about 30 minutes of search and rescue efforts,” the statement revealed.
The recovered bodies were immediately transported to the nearest health center, where they were pronounced dead.
Preliminary investigations indicated that the girls were cutting grass near the pond when they accidentally drowned. Their remains were subsequently handed over to their families and were buried according to Islamic rites.
The NSCDC Commandant in Jigawa State, Muhammad Danjuma, expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased. He urged parents to closely monitor the movements of their children, especially during periods when ponds and rivers are swollen, to prevent such tragic incidents.
