Three girls who attempted to bathe in a pond on Monday in Faskarau, Jae community in the Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa have drowned.

The spokesperson of the state command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Adamu Shehu, confirmed the incident in Dutse.

Mr Shehu gave their names as Maryam Salisu,10, Bahayura Lawan, 10 and Lawisa Sule, eight years.

“The tragedy occurred at about 11:00 a.m. when the three girls went to a nearby pond about 300 metres away from their village to wash their clothes.

“The NSCDC operatives in the area received a distress call at about 11:10 a.m. and rushed to the scene with the Divisional Disaster Management Officers for a rescue mission.

“And with the aid of people of the community, they were able to recover the bodies of the three young girls after about 30 minutes of search and rescue mission,” he said.

The spokesperson added that the bodies were immediately rushed to Kaugama General Hospital, where they were certified dead.

“It was also gathered that about 20 years ago, a similar incident occurred with three girls losing their lives to the pond,” the spokesperson added.

According to him, the remains of the deceased had been handed over to their parents for burial.

The NSCDC commandant, Musa Alhaji, who sympathised with the victims’ families, urged parents and guardians to monitor their children, especially at this moment when ponds and rivers were flooded. 

(NAN)