Victims of the Niger State flood disaster have counted their loses as the death toll from the ugly incident surpassed 200.
The torrential rains, believed to have triggered the worst flooding in the area in over six decades, submerged entire communities, including Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa area of Mokwa LGA of Niger state.
With over 500 individuals still unaccounted for, local authorities have reluctantly suspended rescue operations, expressing doubt that further survivors can be found, over the weekend.
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One of the survivors, identified as Adamu Yusuf, recounted how he lost his wife and newborn baby to the floods.
The flood had submerged Yusuf’s house, separating him from his family, after he had instructed them to firmly hold on to one another.
“My wife was the one that woke me up when the flood hit, and I quickly gathered the family and told everyone to hold one another,” he said.
“As we stepped outside, we saw water everywhere in our living room and the compound. They panicked and we got disconnected.”
He added that his wife and baby had only just returned to Mokwa a day prior, after spending weeks at his in-law’s following childbirth.
“I watched helplessly as water washed away my family. I survived because I could swim. It was God that saved me,” Yusuf added.
“I have never seen anything like this in my 42 years of existence,” said Adamu Usama, a civil engineer who said he lost 10 in-laws to the flood.
His house was barely spared.
“We saw the water carrying people but we cannot save (them), because we don’t know how to swim.”
On Sunday, Ibrahim Hussaini, spokesperson of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), said operatives recovered two more bodies.
Hussaini noted that up to 503 households have been affected and 11 persons injured.
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He said the floods destroyed three bridges in the area, with 3,018 persons displaced so far.
“As of Sunday, June 1, 2025, two more bodies were recovered late yesterday under the bridge in Mokwa. The victims were buried this morning,” Hussaini said.