Nigeria: The northern part of Nigeria has been knocked out by heavy floods resulting in the sweeping away of around 15000 corpses from a cemetery. According to the official data released on Wednesday, the governor of Niger state, Abubakar Sani Bello, confirmed the news.
He stated that the nearby river had been contaminated with corpses which became problematic for the flow of the water.
The regular heavy rains in the area and other neighbourhoods caused torrential flooding and affected the 60-year-old cemetery in the town of Mariga.
Various organisations stated that the incident had occurred due to the overflowing of the banks of the river Mariga. It washed away some of the graves in the northern part of Nigeria. It was also further confirmed that the cemetery, which was washed away by the floods, was located near the river. Various activities, such as illegal mining and miners have been exposed to the prevailing natural calamity.
It was stated that rescue workers have also been deployed across the region so that the bodies could be recovered and rebury at another safer location.
Governor General further stated that it is right that flood caused the washing of the 15000 corpses in some parts, and that part was also used for the illegal mining for digging pits which turned to out be the reason for the sweeping away of the graves.
Aliyu Muhammad, a resident of Mariga mentioned that they recovered more than 650 corpses and reburied them. It became tough for them, but bodies were recovered, and they were able to rebury to the safer graveyard.
“The situation affected almost 2,000 graves in this community, and most of those washed away were buried in the last three to four months,” he added.
The Director General of the State Emergency Management Agency, Ahmed Inga Ibrahim also confirmed the news that decomposed bodies have been reclothed and buried.
