A teenager, Faisa, has been killed by a mudslide in Lagos after days of incessant rain in the state.
The 16-year-old was killed in the Agidingbi, Ikeja area of Lagos State, less than two weeks after her wedding.
She and her husband, Muhammed, reportedly got married about 10 days ago in their village in Goza, Borno State, and had relocated to Lagos afterward.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased was alone in the house when the incident happened.
The corpse was recovered by officials of the State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit, who responded to a distress call.
Also present at the scene were officials of the National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Rapid Response Squad and the Lagos State Building Control Agency.
One of our correspondents, who visited the scene, gathered that the slum, which was on Dosumu Street, off Amara Olu Road, Agidingbi, was inhabited by Borno State residents who fled their homes to seek refuge from Boko Haram attacks.
It was also learnt that there were about 100 people staying in the slum, popularly called Kurata.
A resident, Umaru Mate, said the mudslide occurred around 10am, adding that three shanties were destroyed by the impact.
He said, “I went out very early this morning and returned around 10am. I was about going into my house when I heard a loud noise.
“About 20 of us rushed there and saw that three houses had been destroyed by the mudslide. We were able to rescue a man, Umar, his wife and their five children.
“The woman that died just got married to her husband in the village. They have not stayed up to 10 days in this place.”
Another resident, Hassan Aji, appealed to the government to find a better place for them.
He said, “We are all from Borno State. We left our villages because of Boko Haram. We relocated here about two years ago. Our villages are deserted. As I speak with you, I don’t know where my mother is. I have two wives and seven children and if the government sends us away from here, I don’t know where to go.”
Ibrahim Aliu, another resident, said they paid N24,000 per year as rent to some men who claimed to be working for the Lagos State Government.
The General Manager of LASEMA, Michael Akindele, said the slum was not habitable.
He said, “Three persons were discovered trapped in the mud. The agency’s emergency response team was able to rescue two of them, while the third victim was recovered dead.
“The area is a buffer zone which is not good for human settlement. The Lagos State Government has been sensitising people staying in flood-prone areas and wetland to vacate such areas to avert loss of lives especially, during this rainy season.”
The spokesperson for NEMA, South-West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, said, “It is a mudslide which collapsed on shanties in the slum. A woman, 16-year-old Faisa, who got wedded about 10 days ago, was killed.”
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