Zaria flood victims cry for help as authorities assess damages

Five days after catastrophic floods swept through Kogin Mata in Chikaji, a Zaria, Kaduna State community, residents are counting their losses as the emergency response agency assesses the disaster to determine how to help the victims.

The disaster occurred on Monday during a torrential downpour in the area from 5 a.m. to about 1 p.m.

Speaking to journalists on Tuesday in Zaria, Auwal Sani-Dambaba, the village head of Chikaji, said the flood affected over 200 houses.

“Currently, the victims have taken shelter in the neighbourhood. No life was lost, however, many graves were left open,” the village head said.

A local official said the flood also washed away more than 2000 graves in the community’s main cemetery.

Waterway

Chikaji is a predominantly agrarian community. Residents take advantage of its water bodies to engage in year-round farming. However, the community’s water resource makes it a high-risk area for flooding in the rainy season.

Visit to Chikaji

PREMIUM TIMES visited the community to assess the damage caused by the floods and how the residents were coping.

The survivors told harrowing tales of narrow escapes and devastating losses, how people climbed to their rooftops as the water level rose before their homes succumbed to the deluge.

Hajiya Babba described how her rescuers tore down the wall of her house to help her to safety.

“The flood washed away my kitchen utensils, clothes and even the floors of my room,” she said at a temporary camp for the survivors.

Hajara Rabi’u and her infant child were also rescued from the ceiling of her house where they hid from the rising floodwater.

“Thank God the roof did not fall, but part of the building crumbled under the flood, and all my belongings were destroyed,” she said.

Samaila Yakubu also lost his home and is now squatting with his family at the makeshift shelter set up at the Sabon Gari Local Government secretariat.

Other residents who lost properties to the disaster pleaded with the government to provide them with urgent assistance.

Cry for help

Mrs Rabi’u said the victims had been registered by the Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency KADSEMA but they were yet to receive any assistance.

‘”The Emir of Zazzau (Ahmed Bamalli) visited us and advised us to leave the area for safer places to live in,” she said.

“KADSEMA and the Red Cross also visited and sympathised with us but none of them offered any assistance to us in Kogin Mata, only at the camps in the local government.

“We want the government to build waterways for us so that such natural disasters can stop.”

Sama’ila Yakubu is also registered with KADSEMA. He said local politicians, including the local government chairman, Mohammed Usman, the member of the House of Representatives from the area, and “well-meaning Nigerians” visited them and offered assistance.

“They gave some of us camping at the LG Secretariat food and money,” he said.

Cemetery

Aliyu Usman-Goza, a worker and a representative of the Muchia/Chikaji/hayin Ojo/ Dogarawa cemetery communities, spoke about the damage to the community’s main cemetery.

Mr Usman-Goza said the local government had tried to repair the cemetery until the flood caused worse damages.

He said because of a lack of drainage, rainwater from houses makes its way through the cemetery.

This cemetery is one of the biggest in this area. More than 2,000 graves were washed away in the flood.

Building on waterways

Shi’aibu Mohammed, the District Head of Chikaji. said many years ago Kogi Mata was a farm land used by smallholder farmers to cultivate sugarcane. He said even then, the farmers faced the issue of floods washing away their crops.

Mr Mohammed said people should not have built homes on the land because it is a waterway. “Living there means gambling with one’s life,” the traditional ruler said.

He said the traditional authorities would continue to create awareness on the danger of living in the area, even though people had not listened to them over the years.

Government Response

The zonal coordinator of KADSEMA, Mubarak Zakari-Muhammed, told PREMIUM TIMES that about 200 houses were affected by the flood in Kogin Mata.

Mr Zakari-Mohammed said about 60 houses were submerged and about 50 others were washed away by the flood.

“20 people got injured and have received medical attention at the local government health department,” he said.

Mr Zakari-Mohammed said KADSEMA was housing and feeding 100 flood victims at the local government secretariat.

The official said the agency had done a preliminary assessment of the flood disaster but was yet to conclude the overall assessment.

He said the local government, NEMA, and the Kaduna State Government were waiting for the final assessment to can plan how to assist the victims.

The coordinator said the agency was providing food, mosquito nets, blankets, and medical assistance at the victim’s camp .

“We have set up these camps so as to protect the victims from vector attacks in their homes, prevent outbreak of diseases like malaria, cholera and so on.

“We have also tried to make sure that the victims keep their environment clean and have also provided clean drinking water and toilets so as to avoid any outbreak of diseases.”