In the wave of destructive flooding that flows through an abandoned multimillion naira gully project, wreaking properties and killing children in the Mokwa community of Niger State, WikkiTimes’ Yunusa Umar unveiled the untold story of residents who have been enduring losses in every rainy season.
For over 13 years, residents of Efu’ Abebe, Ya’afu, under Etisheshi and Kpege area of Mokwa local council, Niger State have been battling the disastrous effects of flooding, loss of properties and human lives whenever it rains.
To rescue them from the menace, Senator Muhammad Bima Enagi, a lawmaker who represented Niger South senatorial district in the 9th National Assembly, facilitated a drainage project. But it was later abandoned, exposing residents to damages as flood ravages the gully, eating it deep whenever it rains.
What residents feel would be a life-saving project now sack them from their homes, take their loved ones and put them in perpetual fear. The gully, residents told WikkiTimes, gives them sleepless nights during the rainy season. According to them, it had become a death trap for children.
When WikkiTimes visited the spot of the ravaging gully at Efu’ Abebe, four children were seen walking over a wooden bridge constructed by community members to access other adjoining areas.
With a pensive face, Hadiza Isah who lost her five-year-old daughter on April 16 to the gully in Ya’afu area narrated that her deceased daughter went out to buy soya bean cake outside their cottage when she fell inside and hit her face on the ground.
Before her untimely death, Khadijat had navigated through the wooden bridge several times, her mother told WikkiTimes.
“She went to buy soya beans and led her little uncle walking on the bridge,” the mother recalled, pointing to Isah, a little child beside her. “I don’t know what happened. I was inside my home when Khadijat fell inside the gully while crossing the bridge.”
“It was Isah who was crying and shouting that Khadijat was inside the gully” she continued. “And many people jumped into the erosion to rescue her. Khadijat was taken to hospital after hitting her head on the ground and breaking her neck.”
She further stated that her deceased daughter suffered a serious injury on her forehead. Hadiza said her daughter never opened her eyes till her demise.
“Her eyes were never opened and we took her to Mokwa General Hospital but was referred to Federal Medical Center in Bida. She bled to death,” the bereaved mother narrated.
According to her, children do not play on the bridge because it is always busy. “She was sitting beside me and started crying that she wanted to take soya beans and her grandfather gave them money,” the mother added.
Residents told WikkiTimes that the wooden bridge collapsed after the tragic death of Khadijat. This made it almost impossible for locals who wanted to connect to adjoining communities.
In 2022, floods killed over 603 people, displaced 1.4 million people, and injured more than 2,400 persons. About 82,035 houses were damaged and 332, 327 hectares of land were also affected, according to a PUNCH report.
The flooding that ravaged the country last year was linked to heavy rainfall and effects of climate change as well as the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in neighboring Cameroon which began on September 13, 2022.
Suleiman Saba, a neighbour who rescued Khadijat from the gully told WikkiTimes he had to jump inside to bring her out.
“She had plied the wooden bridge several times but it was her fate that she would lose her life tragically that day,” said Saba.
According to him, she was inside a pool of water in the gully “before we got her out. She passed away immediately but her reaction made us believe that she was still alive.”
“We rushed her to hospital and were in hospital for more than 20 minutes. Doctors did what they could do and also prescribed drugs. Later, she was transferred to FMC, Bida ”, Saba corroborated the deceased’s mother.
Situation Not Different in Kpege, Anguwan Hausawa
When this reporter visited Anguwan Hausawa where the gully passed through, he was told about a young boy trapped in the gully in 2021. Yahaya Mohammed, a brother to the victim said two of his brothers went out to play after heavy downpour in the area.
“One Friday, Haruna died in a flood in the area. Usman and Haruna went out to play after it rained, but they saw groundnut peel inside erosion in the area. So one of them attempted to step on it but feared to cross,” he narrated.
“At that point, Usman pushed him into the erosion and ran away,” he claimed, adding nobody was able to rescue him as the boy did not reveal to anyone after the incident.
He explained that the deceased’s family interrogated Usman about his friend’s whereabouts. “He pointed to the spot and we all began to enter the water searching for the boy. We only found his lifeless body,” Mohammed recalled. “After the ugly incident of Haruna, we called a meeting in the area before the following rainfall. We should get rid of groundnut peel inside the gully.”
Threat to Lives, Residential Apartments and Properties
Ya Nnaworo, a fish-seller in Efu’ Abebe was drying her fish when this reporter met her at her residence. The woman lives close to the drainage where Khadijat lost her life. She narrated that she often cautioned children playing and defecating around the gully.
“Whenever I’m here, I tell children to stay away from the gully,” she said. “A child died there some months ago.”
“The wooden bridge was still there when the child fell inside. I was here when I saw the child slip into the gully. One would think that it was the breeze that pushed her,” she narrated.
According to her, a deep hole on the wooden bridge claimed her life, saying granites were poured inside the gully but flood still washed it away.
“It [the gully] keeps creeping into residential buildings. Since the death of that child, even little children fear to get closer to the area,” said the fish seller. “We can’t afford to build a culvert, only the government can help.”
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The woman narrated that some residents who lost their houses to flooding are now tenants somewhere. “One night, we were in our room when a neighbor’s house collapsed but no one was killed or injured,” she narrated.
Fatima Mohammed, a housewife whose husband lost half of their apartment to the disaster, said: “It is our home and we lost half of the building to the gully. We also lost a waterhead tank to it. We wrote several times to the local government but help is not coming through.”
Lamenting about the abandoned project, Mohammed, K. Mohammed, a youth leader in the community said: “Even the project that Senator Bima abandoned was not properly done and it will not last long. When you go there, you will see that flood has started eating up some parts.”
Mohammed who also operates a basic Primary school in the area noted that his school is closer to the drainage, adding that many parents fear enrolling their children into the school.
“But I do not allow children to go closer to the drainage while in school. There is no way for them to go there even though their parents keep complaining.”
Left without another option, many parents from adjoining areas who send their children on errands, had to follow them to cross over the bridge and still wait for their return, Mohammed explained.
“We have lost eight rooms to the flooding including a four-bedroom flat in my family house,” he said. “I’m no longer living in my family house but in a rented apartment. It is only my sister living in the house.”
Mohammed recalled when the council chairman, Jibrin Abdullahi Muregi, visited the site of the collapsed bridge and promised to renovate it. But nothing has been done yet, the residents said.
Jibrin Abdullahi Muregi, the council chairman of Mokwa local government, told WikkiTimes in a telephone conversation that a local bridge would not be a permanent solution.
“You can’t construct a local bridge in such places like that. It is not a permanent solution,” he told WikkiTimes, adding the Nigeria Erosion And Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP) has taken a survey on the area.
“Soon, another International organization will be going there to flag off re-construction of that gully erosion,” he said. “That is why I said, you can be there when they come or send somebody there. So that the person can witness the flag-off. All these are efforts that we are making.”
On November 11, WikkiTimes visited Mallam Muhammad, the community leader of Efu’ Abebe at his residence. The Septuagenarian lamented how children fell victim to the abandoned project.
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“Children have fallen victims many times. It recently killed a neighbour’s daughter [Khadijat],” the community leader lamented. “The gully which keeps expanding has also swept away properties and livestock.”
“We are pleading with the government and concerned people to help us because our homes are about to be swept away. That is not all, we also lost our children to the gully. If it is well constructed, we will not witness such avoidable death and loss of properties,” he added.
Over N40 Million Drainage Project Abandoned
According to data available on Govspend, a platform which tracks and analyses federal government spending, shows that over N44 million was released to curb flooding in the affected areas of Mokwa local government area of Niger State.
For instance, on February 14, 2022, N39, 366, 318,48 was paid to Archivisual Solutions Ltd through Upper Niger River Basin for erosion control works in Kpege and other Mokwa communities along Rabba Road.
Similarly, a sum of N13, 844,333.05 was released to Landzun Engineering Associates Ltd through the same agency on April 17, 2022, for control of erosion works in Mokwa.
However, findings show that the project was kicked off some time last year, but was later abandoned. Residents confirmed the presence of Archivisual Solutions Ltd on site, but could not confirm whether the other company ever visited. They said there was no project signpost to justify its presence.
Incorporated in Minna, Niger State and registered in 2017, Landzun Engineering Associates Ltd’s office address is located at House No 8A, Maryam Babangida Street, according to its data available online.
But when our reporter visited the area on November 29, he could not find any building with THE house number. Residents said the houses in the area are not numbered.
When contacted, a contact publicly made available by Archivisual Solutions Ltd was not reachable. A text and a WhatsApp message sent to the line was not responded to.
Senator Bima refused to respond to several calls. In addition, text messages and reminders sent to him were not responded to.
WikkiTimes contacted the Upper Niger River Basin, sharing our findings with a responder who spoke to our reporter.
Although the responder advised that the agency’s managing director should be contacted for a detailed response, he explained why projects are tagged abandoned by Nigerians.
“You write officially to the managing director from your…. They will give you all the relevant information you need. Whatever I will give you may be a plus or a minus. It may not be accurate,” he said.
According to him, most of the projects have funding problems of funding.
“There will be a design paper and somebody take it and award it,” he explained, adding it is from a design that they will know that it will now take about N30 million to complete the project. But unfortunately, the budget in the account is N10 million. What they do is to do the design and start half.”
‘The Ministry Is Aware of the Gully’
Yahaya Mohammed, the director of the Niger State Ministry of Environment told WikkiTimes the ministry is aware of the devastating situation in Mokwa. But he refused to answer further questions without seeking permission from his boss.
“Let’s go to the Permanent Secretary. Not that I can’t answer but anything that has to do with publishing, the Permanent Secretary, should be aware and if he gives me a directive then I will answer,” he said as he led our reporter to the office of his boss’ office.
The Permanent Secretary, Sirajo Sa’id, would give him a nod to grant me an interview.
According to the director, the ministry has identified more than 70 gully erosion across the state of which the Mokwa area is among the identified places.
“In 2018, the ministry carried out an ecological survey in all three zones in the state which we went to Mokwa and that particular sites that you talked about,” he claimed. “People from the ecological office in Abuja were among us and we went to the site together. The report has been submitted to the federal government and the state government is more concerned about the gully.”
He added: “At the ministry level, we didn’t stop at that, we have an agency called NEWMAP and it is a World Bank project. Out of 70 gullies identified, NEWMAP selected about 6 which that particular Mokwa site is among.
“I agree that several people have visited the area including the World Bank, and the ecological office in Abuja to see themselves and the magnitude of that site. We should know the measures that will be taken.”
Mohammed further explained that the ministry had included the affected area in the 2024 budget, but refused to share the details.
This report was completed with the support of the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).
