MINNA, NIGER STATE — The lifeless bodies of two children, including a nine-year-old girl and an unidentified young boy, were discovered in a drainage system on Tuesday following a heavy downpour that caused flash floods in Tunga, a community in Minna, the state capital.
Initially, residents believed only the girl, said to be the only daughter of her Edo State-born parents, had been swept away by the flood. However, tragedy deepened when her father arrived to identify her body and found another child — a boy — also among the victims.
PUNCH Online gathered that the girl had been sent to Tunga Market, approximately two kilometres from her home, to buy soup ingredients. She was accompanied by her 11-year-old elder brother. Though the rain had briefly paused when they left home, it returned in torrents while they were on their way back.
The floodwaters quickly overwhelmed the roads and drainages in the area, making movement impossible. Motorists were forced to park as the streets became impassable.
According to eyewitnesses, the girl likely slipped into the drainage, and her brother was seen desperately calling out to passersby for help. However, the current was too strong, and residents could only watch helplessly as the water swept the young girl away.
The boy reportedly rushed home to alert their parents. Later, the girl’s body was found in a tunnel on Mandela Street, more than five kilometres away from where she had fallen. Shockingly, beside her was the body of another boy, also believed to be a victim of the flood.
When contacted by PUNCH Online, the spokesperson for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Hussaine Ibrahim, said the agency was unaware of the incident but promised a visit to the affected family.
“The agency is not aware of the disaster, but my people will visit the home of the girl at Tunga tomorrow to meet with the parents,” he said.
This marks another grim reminder of the dangers posed by unregulated drainage systems and sudden flash floods, particularly during Nigeria’s rainy season.