Over 300 houses have been destroyed following a devastating rainstorm in Misau Local Government Area of Bauchi State.In a telephone chat with the Caretaker Chairman of Misau Local Government Area, Hon. Salisu Hussain Hardawa, he confirmed the incident where he said the affected households have found themselves in a difficult and sympathetic situation that need quick response.
He explained that the rainstorm destroyed over 300 houses and properties worth over 500 million Naira. The Caretaker Chairman who sympathized with the victims of the rainstorm, prayed God to avert future occurrence and replace what they lost as a result of the natural disaster. Hon. Salisu Hussain Hardawa, called on the Bauchi State government for intervention through provision of relief materials to cushion the effect of the unfortunate incident on the victims.
The chairman who expressed gratitude to God that no life was lost in the incident, attributed the sad development to poor tree planting attitude by people in Northern part of Bauchi State. The LG boss appealed to the general public to imbibe the culture of tree planting in order to address desert encroachment. He lamented that despite the present economic hardship, the affected people in Misau lost properties worth millions of Naira.
In an interview with one of the victims, Ibrahim Abubakar Yunusa, he said that the rainstorm destroyed fences and houses completely. “Today, we found ourselves in this situation of rainstorm which wreaked havoc here in Area one, Misau. You can see how fences and houses have fallen; some houses have been destroyed completely. We are in difficult situation now”, he said. According to him, the rainstorm may not be unconnected with global warming as well as indiscriminate felling of trees which is resulting to desert encroachment.
While appealing for assistance from the government, Yunusa urged the government and the civil society Organizations to embark on vigorous sensitization and awareness creation campaign on the need for people to plant trees around them in order to address the situation. Commenting on the incident, the Misau Local Government Secretary of the Red Cross Society of Nigeria, Mohammed Yakubu (KANI), confirmed that the incident affected many houses.
Kani who said, in some places, walls collapsed on the occupants of the houses, leading to minor injuries, expressed gratitude to God that no life loss has so far been recorded.
The secretary of the Red Cross in the local government said that the injured ones are receiving treatment in the hospital. Kani while cautioning residents to stop felling trees indiscriminately, maintained that desert encroachment, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, building on waterways as well as blocking drainages are some of the factors responsible for the tragic incident.
