By Seriki Adinoyi
Three persons have been killed and two others injured as flood ravaged some parts of Zinaria community of Jos North Local Government Area of Plateau State, pulling down and sweeping off at least nine houses and rendering several persons homeless.
Mr. Sani Bello, a relative of the deceased persons, who are all members of the same family, narrated that the incident occurred on Wednesday evening after a torrential downpour that lasted for several hours.
He said that the flood from the heavy rain could not find its way through the narrow waterway in the community, adding that the force of the flood led to the collapse of a fence, paving the way for the raging flood into the community where it pulled down the houses.
According to him, “The victims were indoors when the rain started, but because the water ways were narrow and blocked, the fence gave way and flood ravaged the community. The water also washed three of them away and they died in the process. One of them is my elder sister. She was pregnant and came here for a visit from Naraguta a nearby community. Her corpse has been found and buried. Right now, one lady with a broken leg is in the hospital.”
Senator Istifanus Gyang representing Plateau North Senatorial zone in the National Assembly has visited the area to commiserate with the people and to assist them with resources to create waterways and rebuild their homes.
Represented by Hon. Daniel Dem, Gyang gave financial assistance to the affected families and urged the community to “avoid building on waterways” to avoid a repeat of such unfortunate incident. He prayed for the repose of the souls of the deceased and speedy recovery of the injured.
Receiving the gifts on behalf of the victims, the ward head of the community, Mallam Yahaya Abubakar, commended the senator for his “show of concern”, saying “this is not the first time that water would flood this area, no one has ever come to our aid”.
A beneficiary of the gesture, Mohammed Kamilu, appreciated the senator, saying: “We will use it to augment our efforts at getting back on our feet.”
