Teacher loses dozens of relatives, pupils in devastating floods

MOKWA, Nigeria (AP):

On May 29, Mallam Hassan Umar stood waist-deep and barefoot in muddy water, his eyes on the remnants of his Arabic school, now reduced to sludge and shattered wood by devastating floods.

The Islamic teacher, clutching only the threadbare clothes he escaped with, started shouting the names of the pupils he housed and might never see again.

Some pupils tried to escape with him through the back of the house, which also doubled as the school. But that attempt quickly turned perilous.

The tightly packed layout of the neighbourhood, combined with the absence of a proper drainage system, made the flood water quickly rise and surge through the maze of homes with violent force, leaving no clear path to safety.

In the chaos, he could only watch helplessly as the water overwhelmed some of the children, sweeping them away.

Mokwa, nearly 380 kilometres (236 miles) west of Abuja, Nigeria’s capital, and a major trading and transportation hub where northern farmers and southern traders meet, has become a scene of mass mourning after torrents of rainfall early last Thursday unleashed devastating flooding.

Officially, the fatality count from the sudden and intense flood that built rapidly within five hours has crossed 200. Locals say the actual number could be far higher, with more than a thousand still missing.

Many were Almajiri, the poor boys sent far from their families to study the Quran under the care of Islamic teachers, living in packed, informal schools and often a common sight in northern Nigerian urban centres where they roam the streets for alms and food.

“I lost my brother while he tried to save the children”

Haruna Yusuf lost 14 relatives – apart from 12 Almajiri children he helped his father teach – to the flood. Clutching a rosary, he prayed for them.

In the Rabba community, near Mokwa, the collapse of a key bridge due to the flood has cut off access to two schools.

Mokwa is the latest in a series of communities across Nigeria devastated by seasonal flooding, worsened each year by climate change, poor drainage, and a lack of disaster preparedness.