Rainstorm: One Dead, 11 Injured, Houses Destroyed in Niger Community

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The first rainfall in Kuta town, headquarters of Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State caused serious havoc that took the life of one person, left 11 persons critically injured, and destroyed not less than 38 houses on Friday.
The general hospital in the town, some educational institutions as well as the veterinary health center were among the 38 public and private edifices that were badly affected by the storm.

The deceased has been interred according to Islamic injunction while those injured are reported to be receiving treatment in what is left of the general hospital and other health facilities in the town.

An unofficial account said that not less than 198 public and private properties were affected by the incident that has created hundreds of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) running into hundreds.

Kura town has been housing hundreds of IDPs as a result of bandit attacks in parts of the local government area.
Eyewitnesses said that the affected people have been counting their losses.  “In the history of this town, there has never been such a disastrous windstorm which lasted for almost two hours leaving many casualties and rendered many people homeless,” one of the eyewitnesses said.

The Coordinator of the Concerned Shiroro Youths, Mr. Abubakar Yussuf Kokki, told THISDAY in a telephone interview that “the level of the destructions and damage is undoubtedly an eyesore, devastating, saddening, pathetic and heart-rending, therefore, this ugly calamity requires all hands to be on deck so as to ameliorate the sufferings of the unfortunate victims arising from this natural but unwanted disaster.”

Kokki, therefore, appealed to the state government to come to the assistance of those affected by the disaster in order to ameliorate their sufferings.

The Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed Inga, commiserated with those affected by the disaster and assured them that the state government would take immediate steps to reduce their suffering.

Inga described the incident as “sad” and urged those affected to take it as an act of God that no man could challenge.