Heavy flooding in the Federal Capital Territory has claimed the life of 13-year-old Alhassan Jamil after floodwaters washed him away in the Gwagwalada Area Council on Wednesday morning, September 9, 2026.
The young JSS student at Ihyau El-Burhan Academy was riding on the back of his father’s motorcycle when rising waters engulfed a double-cell culvert in Phase 3, Gwagwalada.
A father’s account of the tragedy
Narrating the harrowing experience, the boy’s father, Jamil Maikasuwa—a local government official serving as Special Assistant on Domestic Affairs to the Gwagwalada Council Chairman—explained that his son panicked as torrential waters surged across their path.
According to Maikasuwa, he applied the brakes upon noticing the speed of the current, causing his son to leap from the motorcycle in fear. Despite immediate attempts to grab the boy’s hand, the swift floodwaters pulled him under before rescue was possible.
Community mobilises for search operations
Search parties composed of local divers and fishermen have been deployed along downstream waterways to locate the missing student.
Residents living close to the riverbank reported seeing the teenager floating downstream with his school bag still attached to his back. The family remains at the site in hopes of recovering his body for burial.
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