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A 13-year-old Junior Secondary School student, Alhassan Jamil, has been swept away by flood in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.
Jamil, a student of Ihyau El-Burhan Academy, Phase 3, Gwagwalada, was swept away on Wednesday while his father was taking him to school on a motorcycle.
The boy’s father, Jamil Maikasuwa, narrated the incident at his residence in Old Kutunku, explaining that the incident occurred while they were crossing a double-cell culvert.
According to him, he noticed that the floodwater was moving at high speed and applied the motorcycle’s brake.
He said his son, who was seated behind him, became frightened and jumped off the motorcycle, falling into the floodwater.
“Upon discovering that the flood water was coming at high speed, I applied the brake, but my son, out of fear, jumped from the bike and suddenly fell into the flood water,” he said.
Maikasuwa said he immediately pushed the motorcycle aside and attempted to rescue his son, but the floodwater swept the boy away.
“And immediately when I discovered he jumped down from the bike, I quickly pushed the bike aside and tried to grab his hand in order to save him, but unfortunately, the flood water swept him away,” he said.
Maikasuwa, who serves as the Special Assistant to the Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council on Domestic Affairs, said his son’s body had yet to be recovered as of Wednesday.
He said fishermen and divers had been mobilised to search for the boy.
The father added that some residents living close to the riverbank claimed to have seen a body floating in the water with a school bag strapped to its back.
“Actually, my son’s corpse is yet to be recovered, even though some residents whose houses are close to the river bank said they discovered the corpse with his school bag strapped to his back floating.
“We hope that the corpse will be recovered so we can give him a befitting burial,” he said.
The incident has renewed concerns over the dangers posed by flooding in communities across the FCT, particularly around waterways, culverts and other flood-prone areas.
