IRIN
NIGERIA: Dozens still missing after dam collapse
3 October 2006


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

GUSAU, 3 October (IRIN) - Up to 1,000 people displaced by floodwater 
from a collapsed damn in Nigeria's northwestern Zamfara state huddled 
together on Tuesday waiting for word of dozens of their missing 
relatives.

"I haven't been able to find my wife and three children," said Sule 
Abubakar, whose home vanished along with more than 500 others when the 
Barrage Dam outside the state capital, Gusau, collapsed on Saturday.

Red Cross officials providing assistance to 700 people seeking shelter 
at the Birnin Ruwa secondary school said the displaced needed urgent 
food and medical assistance.

At Birnin Ruwa, village leader Muhammadu Ruwa said more than half of the 
98 people missing immediately after the flood have been found in 
different shelters. He said he hoped those still missing might be found.

Apart from destroying homes, the water also washed away many acres of 
farmland and some people have lost their entire season's crop. Wells on 
which people depend for drinking water have also been polluted by the 
floodwaters.

Sluice gates used to let water out of the reservoir failed to function, 
causing the rain to overwhelm the dam, said an official of the Zamfara 
Water Board, which operates the dam that supplies water to Gusau.

Zamfara is part of Nigeria's relatively arid Sahel belt, which faces 
torrential rains between August and October, often leading to 
large-scale flooding. In recent days, flooding in the Shagari local 
government council of Sokoto state, north of Zamfara, also displaced 
hundreds of people and washed away farmlands.


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