Two 13-year-old children are missing after being swept away by floodwaters in separate incidents in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Abia State, with search and recovery efforts ongoing in both cases. In Gwagwalada, FCT, Alhassan Jamil, a Junior Secondary School student at Ihyau El-Burhan Academy in Phase 3, was carried off by floodwater on Wednesday morning at around 7:30am. In Umuahia, Abia State, Adekunle Emanuella Ige went missing on Monday evening after being sent on an errand during a heavy rainstorm.
Gwagwalada Incident: Student Falls into Flooded Culvert
Alhassan's father, Jamil Maikasuwa, said he had taken his son on his motorcycle to school after an early morning rainfall, but trouble struck near a Mobil filling station along the Old Kutunku-Market Road. According to Maikasuwa, who spoke to Dailytrust, the floodwater had nearly swallowed a double-cell culvert he was trying to cross, forcing him to brake and attempt to turn back. His son, seemingly frightened, jumped off the motorcycle and fell straight into the culvert.
"Immediately he jumped down from the bike, I quickly pushed the bike aside and tried to grab his hand to save him, but unfortunately, the flood swept him away," Maikasuwa said. He added that Alhassan had actually been reluctant to ride with him that morning, preferring to go to school with a commercial cyclist as usual.
Search Efforts and Community Response
Maikasuwa, who serves as Special Assistant to the Gwagwalada Area Council chairman on Domestic Affairs, described his son as a top student who finished first in his class from nursery through primary four. Alhassan was the eldest of his four children. Fishermen and divers were deployed to search the river. Some residents living near the riverbank reported seeing the boy's body floating with his school bag still strapped on, but the remains had not been recovered as of the time this report was filed.
An elder brother of Maikasuwa noted that the incident was the second such tragedy in four days, following the drowning of four people in a separate canoe accident in the same area, with only one body recovered so far.
Abia Girl Missing After Errand in Rain
In Umuahia, Abia State, Adekunle Emanuella Ige went missing on Monday evening after she was sent on an errand around 7pm during a five-hour rainstorm. Residents of the Agbama area said rising floodwater had completely covered the gutters along Road Two and the World Bank area, making it impossible to tell the drainage channels from the path.
Her mother, Mrs Adekunle Chinasa Ige, who was in Ohafia when she received the news, said her daughter had been living with her younger sister in Umuahia. She revealed on ABN TV that the shopkeeper the girl had visited confirmed that the drainage in front of the shop was submerged by the time Emanuella left. "I'm appealing, please, if there is anything people can do, please help us," Mrs Ige said.
A search party combed the area until 10:30pm on Monday before suspending the effort. It resumed Tuesday morning but had not located the girl. Police have also opened an investigation into the incident.
Persistent Flooding in Gwagwalada
The Gwagwalada incident has again spotlighted the FCT's persistent flooding challenge. Nigeria's Hydrological Services Agency placed the FCT on high flood alert in late July after the Gurara River exceeded warning levels. In August, flash floods hit more than a dozen areas across Abuja, submerging vehicles and trapping residents. The FCT Administration subsequently identified undersized bridges, blocked waterways, and poor drainage as key causes, and the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, disclosed in September that a Federal Capital Development Authority director had been suspended over alleged illegal approvals for construction on waterways.
