Tragedy struck in Minna, the capital of Niger State on Tuesday as the corpses of two children, a boy and a nine-year-old girl were discovered in a drainage channel after a heavy downpour that lashed the city.
Initially, residents of the Tunga community in the state capital had believed that the flood had swept away only the girl, whose parents hail from Edo State.
However, this changed when her father was contacted to identify his daughter and discovered that a young male child had also died in the flood.
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According to the Punch, the girl, the only daughter among three children of her parents, had been sent to the Tunga market, about two kilometres from their residence, to buy soup ingredients. She was accompanied by her elder brother, an 11-year-old boy.
They left home with an umbrella since it had been raining lightly since early morning. Although the rain had paused momentarily before they stepped out, there were signs that it could return in full force.
While they were on their way, the rains returned in torrents. Almost immediately, the entire drainage system and roads in Tunga were submerged, making it impossible for motorists to move. Drivers had to park and wait for the rains to subside and the floods to recede.
Punch said further that as both children were returning from the market, the girl may have slipped and fallen into the drainage. Her brother reportedly shouted for help as the flood swept her away.
It was learnt that residents could not intervene due to the level of the water and the force with which it was moving. The people watched helplessly as the girl was carried off by the flood. Her brother returned home to inform their parents about the tragedy.
The girl’s father was later contacted to identify her corpse, which was found in a tunnel on Mandela Street, over five kilometres away from where she was swept away. There, he also found the body of another boy who had been killed by the same flood.
When PUNCH contacted the spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Hussaine Ibrahim, on Tuesday night to comment on the incident, he expressed shock.
“The agency is not aware of the disaster, but my people will visit the home of the girl at Tunga tomorrow to meet with the parents,” he said.
