Flood Ravages Abuja, Sweeps Away Family

Five members of a family in Kaura community, near Gwagwalada in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, have died in last weekend flood that ravaged the area.

This was made known during an assessment tour of communities affected by the flood, by a combined team of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and the FCT Emergency Management Agency.

The downpour over the weekend which lasted for many hours, beginning by 3 am on Saturday and subsiding around 11 am, pulled down houses, submerged some, destroyed other property as well as displaced people.

Those affected are settlers on the riverbank in Gwagwalada, the first port of call of the response team where two of the victims, Joyce Okoroafor and Geoffrey Okere narrated their experience while calling for relief.

The victims were seen spreading their affected households to dry while the damaged property littered the areas. 

From the looks on their faces, one could feel their plight as people in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. 

According to some of them, they have stayed in the area for about 20 years without witnessing such flood.

At Kaura Community, near Giri Junction, few kilometres away from Gwagwalada, the devastation by the flood was equally massive.

According to the residents, portions of the Zuba-Gwagwalada expressway around the area was submerged.

Road dividers were seen washed away, while electricity poles and buildings were destroyed.

This is where a community leader, Bako Nagzhaga said the flood killed five people.

His position was confirmed by the Deputy Director, Forecasting, Response and Mitigation, FCT Emergency Management Agency, Mrs. Florence Wenegieme.

Mrs Wenegieme said a mother and her four children died in the flood and so far, only the body of a child was found but efforts were on to recover the remaining bodies. 

The Director, Planning, Research and Forecasting, National Emergency Management Agency, Mr Kayode Fagbemi renewed the call for those living in flood-prone areas to relocate to safer grounds.

Mr. Fagbemi assured the people of relief materials to cushion the effects of the flood disaster.

It was also discovered that the affected areas lacked proper drainage system and the available few were blocked. 

This is one campaign NEMA has sustained, appealing to the people to clear the drainages and avoid building structures on waterways for free flow of water.

Tersoo Zamber