38 dead, 50 missing, as floods wreak havoc in Jos
The menace was felt badly in Gangare, Tundun Osi, Anguwan Rogo and Kwanan areas of Jos metropolis. Tundun Osi alone lost 18 people including a 90-year-old woman. Most of the victims were mainly children and teenagers.
Recounting her ordeal, Mrs. Hamid told Daily Sun: “I was asleep, when my husband woke me up and I saw water flowing into our compound. Together with my mate, I picked a Ghana bag and put our clothes in it. The flood was over the floor of our rooms. We went into the room to pick the young boys, but we could not, because the wall had already collapsed on them. When our husband made effort and entered, he also discovered that the flood had gone with them.
“I lost six of my children, four girls and two boys, the oldest was 13 and the youngest 90 days old. There was another child that belonged to my nephew. I am now left with only two surviving children a 17-year-old girl and a boy of two years.”
Amazingly, she said “Alhamdulilahi, I have accepted this as a test from Allah. I only prayed that Allah will have mercy on them, and also console our hearts,” she added in Hausa.
Her husband, Alhaji Abdulhamid, also confirmed the incident. Also recounting his ordeal, a 15-year-old, who gave his name simply as Faisal said he left home with his dad for Ramadan lecture when the rain started. They wanted to return home, but it was impossible because the rain was heavy.
“We were at the Tafsir at night and there was a downpour. We tried to rush home with my father, we couldn’t wade through, because all roads were flooded. My mother who was at home then called me on phone. She was troubled and was chanting Allah, Lailah illa La hu, while I heard the voices of my younger ones screaming and crying. Suddenly the line went off. “That was when our house collapsed and my mother, Hajiyaye, with my four younger ones have not been seen up till now.”
The community leader of Tudun Osi, Malam Abubakar Mahmud said they were devastated and in a trying moment. He called for urgent help for displaced residents. He also added that 50 persons were still missing.
One of the soldiers who took part in the recovery of dead bodies said after he had counted 35, he stopped because the incident was very devastating and touching. “You can imagine children being washed away in their sleep,” he lamented.
Meanwhile, the First Aid group of Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI), led by the state Director, Danjuma Khalid, as well as the Nigerian Red Cross were rendering first aid treatment to the survivors, as well as preparing the bodies for burial.
The Plateau State Secretary of the Red Cross, Mr. Manasseh Pampe also confirmed that 18 corpses were recorded in Dutun Osi, and 20 others in Gangare Jos. Head of Relief and Rehabilitation at the national headquarters, of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Edward Maigida, who was also at the scene, said his men were assessing the camps at Gangare Primary School and another Islamic school housing the displaced persons. Efforts were being made to supply them with relief materials, including food items, clothes, blankets, mats and medicines.
The spokesman of Jos North local chapter of JNI, Umar Farouk Musa said someone from Tilde Fulani in Bauchi State had called to inform them that some bodies had been seen floating on the river which passed through the village from Jos.
Comments