Mother, 16-yr-old daughter drown as flood submerges farms in Anambra

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ONITSHA – It was black Tuesday for the people of Umudara village in Ihite community of Ihiala Local Government Area, Anambra State, when a 16 years old girl, Edith Afugwuobi and her mother, Mrs Afugwuobi were drowned in their submerged farm.

The deceased were said to have gone in a boat along side three others to their flood- submerged farm to recover some cassava when the boat capsized and the duo were drowned while three persons survived. Their bodies of mother and child were recovered on Wednesday by youths in the community.

Edith was said to be a student of the First Foundation Secondary School, Umudara, Ihiala while her mother in her mid fifties was a farmer.

Speaking at separate inteviews with Vanguard, Mr Nduka Onyemuze, proprietor of the school and Hon. Basil Akaolisa said that over 10 people died during the flood, adding that only the two corpses had been recovered so far.

They said that five villages in Ihite including, Umudara, Umuezeawala, Umuduru Oru, Amaduru and Umuadika had been completely submerged by flood and appealed to both the state and federal governments to come to their rescue.

”We are appealing to government to come to our aid. Since the flood disaster in Anambra State, started, focus had been on Ogbaru, Anambra West and Anambra East Local Governments, while we have been suffering the same plight. We have no food;  no water because our water had been polluted just as we have no roads because they have been submerged”.

The people said the farmers in the area were helpless because they had lost all their crops in the submerged farmlands.

Meanwhile, one of the farmers who lost all his belongings including farms was yesterday stopped from committing suicide following the devastation.