A heartbreaking incident unfolded on Sunday at the Gubi Water Treatment Plant in Bauchi State, where four workers, including a father and his son, lost their lives during a routine cleaning operation.

The victims—Shu’aibu Hamza, his son Abdulmalik Ibrahim Hamza, Ibrahim Musa, and Jamilu Yunusa—were staff members of the Bauchi State Water Supply Agency.

All four were laid to rest shortly after the incident, in accordance with Islamic burial rites.

DAILY GAZETTE reports that the father and son, who were working in preparation for Abdulmalik’s upcoming wedding in two weeks, were among those who drowned while conducting maintenance work in one of the facility’s reservoirs.

Malam Husseini Abubakar, a resident of Gubi village where the plant is located, described the situation as a devastating blow to the entire community.

“It is the will of Allah. He gives and takes life. As painful as this is, there is nothing anyone can do—this was destined to happen,” Abubakar said.

He recounted that the incident began when one of the victims entered the reservoir to retrieve a fish that had been spotted.

A second person tried to rescue him but also drowned, followed by the father and son who were likewise caught in the tragic chain of events.

Another resident, Musa Muhammad, called on the grieving families to remain strong and accept the situation with faith.

“While incidents like this have occurred before, this is the most tragic, claiming four lives at once,” he said.

As at the time of this report, the Bauchi State Commissioner for Water Resources, Abdulrazak Nuhu Zaki, had yet to issue a statement or respond to inquiries about the incident.

A series of tragic accidents on the Abuja-Lokoja highway at Gada-Biyu have claimed the lives of six passengers and 11 cows between Thursday and Saturday, with 14 other people sustaining various degrees of injury.

Eyewitnesses said the crashes occurred at the same location and involved multiple vehicles, including a trailer transporting cows, a Toyota Sienna, a J5 Peugeot bus, and a Daf trailer.

One of the witnesses, Dahiru Musa, blamed the incidents on diversions created due to ongoing rehabilitation work on deteriorating sections of the highway.

“But the fatal one of the accidents was that involving a trailer loaded with cows and a J5 Peugeot bus, in which two people from the bus were burnt to death,” Musa said.

Emergency response personnel from the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were dispatched to the scene, where they evacuated the injured and retrieved the remains of those who lost their lives.

A senior FRSC official, who took part in the rescue effort and chose to remain anonymous, confirmed the series of accidents. He also pointed to road diversions as the main cause.

He stated, “Six people died while 14 others sustained injuries,” adding that 11 cows also perished when the trailer collided with the J5 Peugeot bus.

The injured victims were transported to general hospitals in Abaji and Kwali, while the corpses were deposited at the Kwali hospital morgue.

In the aftermath, our reporter learned that eight surviving cows, which were badly injured, were slaughtered at the crash site by their owners.

Butchers from Gada-Biyu village later came to purchase the meat.

Efforts to reach the FCT sector commander of the FRSC, Mr. Muta’ah Chorrie, were unsuccessful as he was reportedly out of the country at the time of the incidents.

Drama unfolded at a police station in Minna, Niger State, when a man abruptly divorced his wife after she was apprehended during a hotel raid targeting suspected criminals.

The woman was among several individuals arrested by security personnel in an operation targeting hotels believed to harbor sara-suka gang members and drug dealers.

A security operative, who requested anonymity, told DAILY GAZETTE that the woman’s marital status was only discovered after those arrested were taken to the station and their families were contacted.

“Following the recurring youth restiveness and attacks on innocent citizens, the Deputy Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, after going round Minna recently, directed security operatives to go after the youths causing the unrest and stopping innocent citizens from going about their businesses,” he said.

The source added, “We embarked on the operation at some hotels suspected to be their hideouts. During the operations, many suspects were arrested, including women. And to our surprise, a man came to say that one of the women was his wife and instantly, he divorced her three times.”

“We didn’t know that she was married and did not know what took her there because police had not yet conducted investigation about the suspects when the husband came to the station.”

The police are yet to conclude investigations into the circumstances surrounding the arrests.

Governor Mbah, 

The Enugu State Government has revealed plans for a transformative rail infrastructure project—a 135.5-kilometre standard gauge railway designed to link key cities in the South-East region to Onne Port in Rivers State.

Speaking on Afia TV’s “Enugu Kwenu” programme, the State Commissioner for Transportation, Obi Ozor, disclosed that the rail line will be entirely state-owned and is part of a broader strategy to stimulate economic development across the region.

“The line we are about to build is state-owned. It is a 135.5km standard gauge line that connects Enugu to all major cities in the South-East. You are going to see a proper connection to Anambra through Ugwuoba, and a connection to Ebonyi through the Amechi Idodo axis.”

“And of course, connections to Umuahia, Abia, and Owerri through the line that passes through Nkanu West to Isiagu and goes all the way to Onne Port,” Ozor explained.

According to him, the feasibility study for the railway has been concluded.

The state government is collaborating with the Nigerian Railway Corporation and Chinese partners, while negotiations with potential investors are ongoing to secure the necessary financing.

Ozor emphasized that the project is critical to Enugu’s goal of becoming a central trade and export hub in Nigeria.

“As part of turning Enugu State into a hub, rail is a critical component to enable the movement of agro-commodities from their sources all the way to the port for export and earning of foreign exchange,” he noted.

He highlighted the region’s vast, untapped mineral wealth, particularly coal, and stressed that a modern transport system is essential to unlock these resources.

“We have a lot of wealth locked beneath our soil, such as coal. We need to exploit them to generate significant revenue, and rail is critical to achieving this,” he said.

The planned railway will serve both passenger and freight needs.

Ozor pointed out that the line will enhance goods movement across the region and reduce congestion at Lagos ports. It will also improve trade links with neighboring states, including Delta.

A new station at the Holy Ghost Transport Terminal in Enugu is also part of the plan.

This station will serve dual purposes—handling passengers and freight.

In addition, Enugu is preparing to establish a major inland container port to support the processing and movement of agricultural products across both the South-East and North-East.

While the Federal Government is concurrently working on extending its rail from Aba to Enugu within the next 24 months, Ozor clarified that Enugu’s initiative is a separate, state-driven effort.

He said it aligns with the state’s broader vision for long-term economic transformation.