{"id":52945,"date":"2024-09-20T18:08:43","date_gmt":"2024-09-20T16:08:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/?p=52945"},"modified":"2024-09-20T18:08:43","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T16:08:43","slug":"distraught-families-still-searching-for-their-missing-loved-ones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/distraught-families-still-searching-for-their-missing-loved-ones\/","title":{"rendered":"Distraught families still searching for their missing loved ones"},"content":{"rendered":"

The official number of missing people \u2013 thought to be mostly children \u2013 has not been released but it is believed the figure could run into the hundreds.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Khadija Ahmed has been crying for 10 days \u2013 two of her four children are missing.<\/p>\n

After trudging through deep floodwater, a group of volunteers found the exhausted mother and lifted her and the kids on to a truck to take them to safety.<\/p>\n

It was only once she arrived at the displaced persons\u2019 camp that she realised her 10-month-old baby and six-year-old Yuram were missing.<\/p>\n

Authorities have not released the official number of missing people \u2013 thought to be mostly children \u2013but it is believed the figure could run into the hundreds.<\/p>\n

At least two million people were affected by the flood that engulfed 70% of Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, and surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

It started in the early hours of Tuesday, September 10, when the Alau Dam \u2013 16km from the city \u2013 began to overflow.<\/p>\n

More than 400,000 people were displaced, most of whom have taken refuge in makeshift camps.<\/p>\n

Thousands of houses in the metropolis and surrounding areas were submerged, along with infrastructure, including roads, bridges, schools, markets, businesses and hospitals. Property and belongings worth billions of naira were lost.<\/p>\n

The death toll \u2013 77 so far \u2013 has yet to be confirmed. Residents and rescuers say it will be much higher. As the floodwater is gradually subsiding, people have reported seeing dead bodies on the streets.<\/p>\n

Despite huge efforts by rescuers \u2013 made up of volunteers, soldiers and other security operatives, local and international non-governmental organisations, and the national and state emergency management agencies \u2013 many people remain missing. No one knows if they are dead or alive.<\/p>\n

Khadija said she woke up when water started pouring into her tent in the Gidan-Dambe area of Maiduguri, where she has been living for eight years after being displaced by armed-conflict in Dikwa town.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was confused. There was water swirling around the tent. It was getting deeper and deeper.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we got outside the tent, I saw that my neighbours had already left. I knew we had to try to get to higher ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cAbba, my eldest son, who is 15, and his sister, Zara, who is 12, were walking ahead of me. I had my last born, Batul, who is 10 months old, in my arms and I was holding six-year-old Yuram\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very hard to hold on to them because there was so much water. Eventually we joined a large group of people who were also trying to get to higher ground. Two of the men saw that I was struggling so they took the baby and Yuram from me. We all kept trudging through the water.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter many kilometres, we were rescued by a team of volunteers who helped us on to a truck. I thought the men carrying my children were already inside the truck. It was very big and there were lots of people.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was only when we got to the displaced persons\u2019 camp that I realised Yuram and Batul were missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Khadija told RNI that she had not seen her two young children since they were separated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know where they are. It\u2019s been 10 days now. I cry every day. I can\u2019t eat or sleep. As the days go by, the chance that they are alive gets less. But I have not given up hope. I pray that I will find them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hajja Aisha told RNI that her husband and brothers are missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were in our house in the Maiduri area of Maiduguri. It was about midnight. There was water everywhere. My husband gave me \u20a62,000 and told me to take the children and go somewhere safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy two brothers live in the same area. They said they would leave if the water got too high.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy children and I started wading through the water. We almost drowned a few times. After walking for a while we were rescued by members of the Civilian Joint Task Force [CJTF].<\/p>\n

\u201cI have not seen my husband or my brothers for 10 days. I tried to search for them in the temporary displaced persons\u2019 camp at the Yerwa Government Girls Secondary School where we are staying but I could not find them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sick with worry. I do not know if I will ever see them again.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ba Luwarsa said two of her grandchildren are missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy granddaughters, Hauwa and Fadila, got separated from us at Custom Bridge. Our house in the Kwanan Yobe area of Maiduguri was flooded and we were trying to get to a safe place. A large body of water overwhelmed us and we lost sight of the girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cI reported them missing to officials at Government College Maiduguri camp and I searched all over for them \u2013 but it was all in vain.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am just praying that they are alive and healthy. I\u2019m optimistic that we will be reunited \u2013 I just have to keep on searching for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ya Bintu Abubakar Ali, a search and rescue specialist, who was a guest on RNI\u2019s special programme, Family Link, said people whose loved ones are missing should remain optimistic until the status of missing persons is confirmed by the authorities.<\/p>\n

She urged parents and relatives to report all missing persons to the relevant authorities and to stay informed by monitoring local news.<\/p>\n

Duncan Harvey, the country director of Save the Children, visited Maiduguri. He said: \u201cI have worked in the humanitarian sector for more than 20 years and still, what I saw in Maiduguri shocked me to my core.<\/p>\n

\u201cHundreds of thousands of children are crammed side by side in camps with no clean water, sanitation, food or healthcare. They are terrified and have lost everything \u2013 their homes, their belongings, sometimes their families.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the most distressing things I saw was in one displacement camp where 22 children had been separated from their families. We are making efforts with other agencies to reunite these children with family members.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

SHETTIMA LAWAN MONGUNO<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The official number of missing people \u2013 thought to be mostly children \u2013 has not been released but it is believed the figure could run into the hundreds. Khadija Ahmed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57,"featured_media":52946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52945"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=52945"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52945\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":52947,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/52945\/revisions\/52947"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/52946"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=52945"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=52945"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ndarason.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=52945"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}