Atleast 10 residents of Suleja, Niger State are missing and feared dead due to the heavy downpour and flood that started in the early hours on Sunday. The Chairman of Suleja Local Government Area, Abdullahi Maje, confirmed the incident to Channels Television. He explained that the flood was as a result of the heavy rain which started around 12 midnight and went on for hours which affected more than 100 houses around Suleja local Government Area. “There are about 10 missing persons within Suleja that the flood took away. Three bodies have been found, we are still searching for the remaining persons dead or alive. “We have made a call to the Federal government through NEMA. They responded quickly and came to Suleja.” Mr Maje stated. The worst affected areas included Kaduna road through Bakin-Iku, Checheniya, and Yaro College area, Kantoma area, Kuspa, Anguwan Gwari, and Anguwan Juma. Residents narrated their plight to Channels TV saying some who had attempted to leave their submerged homes for safety were swept away by the flood. They said cars and vehicles parked were also moved from their original positions due to the heavy downpour. A resident said: “I know of nine persons who were carried away by the flood and likely dead in community alone. “The local government chairman and some NEMA officials visited the community to carry out an on the spot assessment and condole with the families of those that lost their lives.” A Search and Rescue Officer of NEMA, Egrigba Micheal in an interview with Channels Television, stated that the agency was able to rescue a victim who has been rushed to the Suleja General Hospital. “We got a call from our zonal coordinator, Mohammed Idris that there was a flood in Suleja. So we quickly moved to Suleja. We have seen a lot of devastation the rain has caused. Many of the houses were submerged while some were completely rooted out. Many properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed. “There was one house that had eight people completely dead although Channels Television did not see their corpse. “In a family of eight, only one person was rescued dead. But the other seven are still missing. “We will go back to write our report and submit to our boss. Certainly tomorrow they will come back and do another assessment before there can be any relief material,” the NEMA official added.
