One Dies, 300 Houses Destroyed in Katsina Windstorm

Residents of Nwala-Jan Gahe community in Katsina State have been thrown into mourning following the death of a teenage boy and destruction of about 300 houses during a windstorm that ravaged the community.

Five persons were also reported to have sustained varying degrees of injury in the incident which occurred last Friday.


The Executive Secretary of the Katsina State Emergency Management Agency, Dr. Aminu Waziri, who confirmed the incident to journalists on Tuesday, said the windstorm caused great havoc in the new community.

He revealed that the boy died after a fence collapsed on him during the windstorm. Waziri added that the agency had already carried out “immediate cautionary intervention of providing the displaced persons with foodstuffs.”

He added that assessment was on to ascertain the level of damage and the loss suffered by individuals, after which government would provide relief materials for the affected persons to help them resume their normal lives.

He explained, “On Friday evening, we received a distress call through one of our emergency contact lines and quickly mobilised to the scene of the tragedy. “We realised that there was a windstorm in the neighbourhood.

It is a new layout and one can imagine if wind of high magnitude comes in, the possibility of distabilising the area is high especially when development was done with low level of compliance or low quality of materials. You can imagine how much loss could happen.

“Well, we were able to mobilise and at least provide human intervention. With the help of the state fire service department, we were able to stabilise the situation. “We lost one person, a young boy who happened to rush out of his mother’s room, because the wind had already blown off the roof and they were a bit confused, so, he came out and one of the fences fell on him and we lost him instantly.

“Also, five others sustained varying degrees of injury in form of fracture. Over 300 houses were affected. And so, we intervened quickly knowing that people will be displaced. And in the spirit of community relations, they were accommodated within the same community by their neighbours.

“So, we immediately provided relief items of foodstuffs with the directive of Governor Aminu Bello Masari. And the governor was so proactive himself, because he was there at 3am on the day the incident happened to see things for himself and why it happened.”