Bauchi State Police Command has confirmed the death of two young girls, while 2,600 houses were destroyed, and several hectares of farmland damaged in a flood that ravaged Shira Local Government Area of the state.
Sources in the affected villages gave the number of deaths as three persons in the flood caused by a heavy downpour in the council area, with a report of a missing person in Bauchi metropolis.
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The command’s spokesman, DSP Ahmed Mohammed Wakili, who disclosed this to Daily Trust in a telephone interview, said the flood occurred at different times on Sunday and Monday affecting villages among them Disina, Bakatma and Adamami.
He said “As a result of the flood, two young girls whose ages ranged from 13 to 19 years were drowned, but a rescue operation resulted in the recovery of their corpses.
“A total of 2,600 houses were destroyed and thousands of hectares of farmlands were also destroyed in the villages.”
On the missing person in Bauchi metropolis, DSP Wakili explained that the command did not receive any report on the matter, adding that there was heavy downpour in the metropolis on Monday evening, but “We did not receive report of a missing person.”
A resident of Adamami village, Aminu Bala, in a telephone interview on Tuesday, said that three people died as a result of the flood and that the ensuing destruction included the collapse of more than 85 percent of mostly mud houses in the village, plus loss of farmland measuring more than 3000 hectares.
He explained that residents of the village passed the night sleepless while trying to save women and children from being trapped in the debris of the collapsed mud buildings.
The disaster occurred as a result of a heavy downpour that lasted almost 14 hours between Sunday evening and Monday, resulting in serious flooding that completely submerged the entire village.
He lamented that Adamami and other communities experienced the situation for almost two weeks now with no assistance from the local or state governments.
“What we have been appealing for is the construction of drainage to enable the water to flow, but surprisingly all the appeals lodged with the appropriate authorities have not been responded to yet,” he said.
Efforts to get the reaction of the State Emergency Management Agency proved abortive as at the time of filing this report.
A similar heavy downpour that lasted for over five hours in Bauchi metropolis has also flooded houses and submerged major roads, causing a heavy traffic gridlock for hours and leaving several vehicles damaged in the process.
A victim of the flood in Bauchi metropolis, Danmusa Mohammed, who was rescued by some good Samaritans along Murtala Muhammed Way, narrated that he was submerged by the flood and dragged into a culvert while riding on his motorcycle but was only fortunate that some youths rushed and rescued him from drowning.
“Shortly after they rescued me, a trader carrying a tray of kola nuts lost his footing and feel into a culvert and was instantly swept away. He has not been found up till now,” he said.
Another victim of the flood in the metropolis and resident of Fadama Mada area of Bauchi, Malam Muazu Hardawa, said the water has submerged his house and destroyed the culvert erected recently to provide smooth passage for the rain water.
One other victim of the flood, Sani Abubakar of Adamu Jumba road, where the water submerged houses, offices and road, said, “Monday night was a bad experience as we spent over four hours battling with flood water to salvage our homes and properties.”
When our correspondent went round the metropolis, he observed some of the damage caused by the flood which included the destruction of the Federal Low-cost bridge, thereby threatening houses in the area.
It will be recalled that last week, Bauchi State House Assembly summoned the Secretary to the State Government to explain why the government failed to act on the resolution of the house on cases of flooding across the state.
The House made the resolution Tuesday under matters of urgent public importance moved by Hon. Saleh Hodi Jibir (Disina Constituency), who raised alarm on the failure of the state government to address the issue of flooding in the state despite several resolutions of the assembly.
According to him, there was report of rampant flooding last year across the state and the House set up a committee that went around the local governments for assessment and a report was compiled and submitted, including the estimates of damages.
– 500,000 hactares distroyed in Kebbi –
In Kebbi State, The chairman of Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Sani Dododo, has said farm produce worth over N5 billion have been destroyed following a flood disaster that ravaged the state.
Dododo said over 500,000 hectares of farmland were destroyed by the flood, adding that of the hectarage affected, 450,000 were for rice alone, while the remaining covered other crops.
He added that the loss recorded in rice farming could be put at 90 per cent of the total value of the farm produce in the state.
“Over 500,000 hectares of farmlands have been destroyed by the flood disaster in Kebbi State.
“The destruction translates to over N5 billion worth of farm produced. Rice farms constitute about 90 per cent of the farm produce destroyed,” he said.
A female farmer, Libabatu Bunza, who has over 20 hectares of rice farmland in Ci da kai village in Dandi LGA, told this reporter that she lost over 16 hectares of her rice farmland to the flood; adding that apart from a small position of the farm, the rest had been submerged.
According to her, had the rice reached harvesting, she was hoping to get 40 bags per hectare, adding that for the 16 hectares destroyed, she was expecting to get about 700 bags of paddy rice.
She said she could not give the exact amount of money so far spent on the hectares of farm submerged in the flood, adding that most farmers this year would not be able to go for dry season farming.
“The losses recorded this year are so enormous that the majority of the smallholder farmers may not go back to farm for this year’s dry season farming.
“Most farmers make use of what they realise in rainy season farming for dry season farming,” she said.
Zuwaira Abubakar, another woman rice farmer in Argungu, said almost all rice farms in Argungu LGA have been submerged and that translated to a total loss of capital for reinvesting in dry season farming.
Zuwaira, who cultivated over 25 hectares of rice farms, said the farm was submerged, adding that so far she had spent over N300,000 on the farm before the flood destroyed it.
“We are calling on the government to come to our aid. Many of us will be out of the farming business if the government does not intervene,” she appealed.
Another rice farmer, Suleiman Bashir, who stood helplessly as his rice farm was submerged in the flood, appealed to the state and the federal governments to come to their aid by reducing the cost of loss on the farmers.
“I don’t know what to do. I have two large rice farms and they have completely been submerged by the flood.
“We are appealing to the state and federal governments to assist us,” he said.
In his remark, the National President of Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN), Aminu Goronyo, who toured some of the affected places while in the entourage of the Kebbi State governor, described the destruction as devastating.
He assured the farmers that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) had sent its officials to the state with a view to assessing the situation for immediate intervention.
“The CBN governor had directed RIFAN to mobilise one million farmers that can produce five million metric tonnes of rice for the dry season commencing in November 2020, for support,” he said.
Also speaking to journalists at Bakin Gada in Argungu local government after inspecting rice farmlands destroyed by floods in some of the local government areas of the state, the Kebbi State Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu, expressed shock over the incident, describing it as regrettable.
The governor also assured the farmers that the federal government, with the help of institutions like the CBN and other bodies, would respond to the problem effectively.
He also announced that President Buhari would soon summon a meeting of the National Food Security Council and that the problem of flood disasters among other things would be discussed.
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