The incident was confirmed by ASC Badaruddeen Tijuana, the spokesperson for the State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), in a statement issued in Dutse on Sunday, August 11, 2024.
The victims have been identified as Fatima Sule, 12; Nasiya Sale, 12; and Huwaila Sa’adu, 13, all from Tulla village.
According to the statement, the tragedy occurred around 11 a.m. on Saturday, August 1, when the girls went to cut grass for their livestock near the pond.
The NSCDC received a distress call from the Tulla community at approximately 11:10 a.m. and promptly dispatched personnel and divisional disaster management officers for a rescue operation.
After about 30 minutes of searching, they recovered the bodies of the three girls with the help of local residents.
The bodies were taken to the nearest health center, where they were pronounced dead. Investigations revealed that the girls had been cutting grass in the same area where they drowned.
The girls’ remains were returned to their families and buried according to Islamic customs. NSCDC Commandant Muhammad Danjuma expressed his condolences to the families and urged parents to closely monitor their children, particularly during times when ponds and rivers are swollen, to prevent such tragedies.
