Five Dead, Thousands Displaced as Windstorm Wrecks Sokoto Communities

A powerful windstorm that tore through Sokoto State’s Gwadabawa and Kware local government areas on Tuesday has left at least five people dead, dozens injured, and more than 1,400 homes destroyed.

The joint assessment by officials from the Sokoto State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) revealed the full extent of the disaster during their Saturday inspection of the affected areas.

In Gwadabawa LGA alone, 878 homes were razed, displacing over 7,800 residents across 1,306 households. Among the five confirmed deaths in the Marabawa community were two young children, aged 18 months and three years, identified as the children of a local resident, Mansur Salihu Talhi.

SEMA noted that 11 people sustained various degrees of injury during the storm in Gwadabawa.

In Kware LGA, another 523 houses were destroyed, impacting over 1,400 households. Eighteen individuals were injured, and major public structures, including classrooms and fences at Government Secondary School Kware, suffered significant damage.

Hard-hit areas like Kofar-Barga and 30-Quarters saw dozens of homes flattened, including that of resident Ahmad Abbas.

SEMA officials confirmed that detailed documentation of damaged properties and displaced persons is ongoing and will be submitted to state and federal governments to facilitate emergency relief and humanitarian assistance.

The storm has drawn attention to the vulnerability of local infrastructure in the face of increasingly severe weather events in northern Nigeria.