By Kolawole Ojebisi
Apparently, the last has not been heard about the tragedy that hit Mokwa town following a devastating flood that swept through the community which is the headquarters of Mokwa Local Government Area in Niger State.
This is as seven more bodies of children were recovered on Tuesday night, six days after incident.
The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), stated this on Wednesday morning.
According to the agency, four bodies were retrieved on Monday evening, while three more were found on Tuesday, bringing the official death toll to 200.
Speaking on how the corpses were recovered, the Director General of NSEMA, Abdullahi Baba Arah, said the agency enlisted the help of residents.
He added that the recovered bodies were found buried beneath debris, stressing that they were already decomposing.
He said, “Five more dead bodies were recovered. Four were found yesterday evening (Monday), while one was recovered on Tuesday afternoon.
“Two more were later discovered on Tuesday afternoon along the Mokwa/Raba axis. They were children, buried under tree debris. We had to engage the services of locals to dig out the corpses. The total death toll is now 160 as of 3:45 p.m., June 3, 2025.”
However, Niger State’s Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Ahmad Suleiman, said over 200 bodies of the victims have been recovered.
Suleiman made this revelation while featuring on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief show on Wednesday.
He said, “Nobody can tell you the number of casualties in Niger State right now because up till now, we are still looking for some corpses.
“We have more than 200 casualties or corpses but we are still looking for more.”
Meanwhile, a tale of loss and sorrow has continued to trail the incident.
According to some residents of the community, an 18-seater commercial bus travelling north from the southern region was reportedly swept away by the floodwaters last week.
Thoss who witnessed the bus disappearance maintained that six days on, neither the vehicle nor its passengers have been found.
A resident, Baba Abu, said, “When the driver reached the section of the road where water was flowing across, he didn’t attempt to cross. He parked and rolled up the windows to wait for the water to subside.
“But as he waited, the water volume increased and swept the bus into the River Niger. As I speak, we still don’t know the whereabouts of the bus or the people in it.” Dailytrust quoted Bala Abu, a resident, who witnessed the tragic incident.
