From Garba Abdullahi Bagwai, in Kano
Two of the three girls who drowned in a boat mishap at Rugu-Rugu-Yalwa village in Tudun Wada Local Government Area of Kano State were preparing to get married in the coming months, their father, Malam Abdulhadi Yalwa, has said.
Abdulhadi said preparations for the marriages of his two daughters had reached an advanced stage before the tragedy occurred.
Speaking exclusively to Citizenship Daily Newspaper on Monday, Abdulhadi identified the deceased as Murja Abdulhadi, 20, and Atika Abdulhadi, 18. The third victim, Bilkisu Adamu, 10, was the daughter of his younger brother.
He said Murja and Atika had completed their secondary school education at Government Girls Secondary School, Karefa, in Tudun Wada Local Government Area, and were preparing for marriage before the incident.
Abdulhadi said the last time he spoke with the girls was on Saturday at about 10 a.m., when they came to inform him that they were going to a rice farm to participate in farming activities and collect their share of the harvested rice as payment for their labour.
“I advised them to postpone the trip for a few days, but they told me they would not spend much time at the farm. I later prayed for their safe return,” he said.
According to him, at about 2 p.m., he suddenly heard people shouting that a boat had capsized on the Rugu-Rugu-Yalwa River.
“I never knew that my children were involved until I reached the scene,” he said.
He explained that fishermen and other good samaritans used four boats in an attempt to rescue the girls, but the boats began taking in water and sank one after another.
The situation forced the rescuers to swim to the scene of the incident in an attempt to reach the victims.
“Before they could reach the location, all three girls had already drowned after spending about an hour in the water,” he said.
Abdulhadi added that only the boat operator survived the incident.
Residents said water from Tiga Dam had passed through the area, creating a water channel that communities use for farming activities.
Many residents of Yalwa village reportedly cross the river to Rugu-Rugu to access their farmlands, particularly during the farming season.
When contacted for comment, the Kano-Jigawa Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Dr Nura Abdullahi, said he had no detailed information to provide at the time of filing the report.
He said his team was still investigating to establish the actual cause of the accident.
