Mudslide Rocks Lagos, Kills Woman

•Lagos issues quit notice to occupants

Gboyega Akinsanmi
An 18-year-old woman, Mrs. Faisa Muritala, who got married 11 days ago in Borno State, was yesterday killed in a mudslide incident that occurred in Agidingbi area of Lagos.

Also, two other persons sustained varying degrees of injury in the incident, which eyewitness said, occurred at about 9:30 am, due to torrential rainfall experienced across the state.

At the scene yesterday, an eyewitness account told journalist that the deceased and her husband, both of Borno State indigene, “had their wedding ceremony 11 days ago. She is just 18 years old.

“Her husband relocated from Gwoza, Borno State to Lagos due to the Boko Haram insurgency that had ravaged their communities. The couple were relaxing in their structure when the tragedy occurred. While the husband escaped, the wife was trapped under the mud.”

Also speaking at the scene, one of the residents in the affected structure, Mr. Ibrahim Abu, explained how the incident occurred, saying all he heard “was a loud bang at about 9:30a.m. Before rescuers arrived, she had died.”
One of the two victims, Mr. Muhammed Abba, told journalists that the deceased, Faisa and him “were both trapped under the mud. I could remember she was behind me.”

Narrating how he escaped, Abba said: “Immediately I discovered I was trapped, I started shouting for help. It was my voice that attracted the rescue officials to the location where we were trapped.”
Another resident, Hassan Muhammed, 37-year-old, lamented that they were forced to relocate to Lagos in 2013 after Boko Haram terrorists stormed their community and killed residents.

Hassan, who relocated from Gwoza to Lagos, said: “I am not happy that I live here but you need to understand that the Boko Haram insurgency forced us relocate to Lagos. We do not have the huge income to rent house in Lagos. That was why we decided to settle here.
“I cannot go back home at this time. We need the federal and state governments to help provide accommodation for us. For instance, I have two wives and kids; where do I take them to.”

After the incident, however, the Commissioner for Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, ordered squatters living in the shanties around Amara-Olu community “to vacate the area immediately. It is not habitable to live here.”
After rescue operation, the General Manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Mr. Michael Akindele, said three persons were discovered trapped under the mud on their arrival at the scene.

He said the agency’s Emergency Response Team (ERT) were able “to rescue two people (a male and a female) while one adult female lost her life and the dead was recovered by the agency’s emergency response team.

“The agency’s ERT and men of the Nigerian police from Alausa Division, RRS and the Nigerian security and civil defense LASAMBUS, NEMA, were on ground for the recovery operation,” he added.
Akindele said the area “is a wet land and a buffer zone, which is not habitable for human settlement.”