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Residents flee Kaduna community as tremors persist

By Saxone Akhaine (Northern Bureau Chief) and Emeka Anuforo (Abuja)
13 September 2016   |   5:00 am
Residents of Koi community in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State have begun fleeing their homes, as Sunday’s tremors continued into the early hours of yesterday.

 

Incident not unusual, low data hindering analysis, say experts

Residents of Koi community in Jaba Local Government Area of Kaduna State have begun fleeing their homes, as Sunday’s tremors continued into the early hours of yesterday.

The frightened citizens had kept vigil, and at dawn staged a protest, calling on government to immediately come to their aid.

The District Head of Fada (in charge of Koi Central), Dr. Stephen Sani, particularly appealed to the Kaduna State Government to commence a swift investigation into the occurrence.

The upset below the earth crust is, however, not unusual, said Acting Head of the Department of Geology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr. Obiora Chika Smart.

Another geologist and former Director General, Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA), Prof. Siyan Malomo, regretted that data on tremors were low in Nigeria and that they were usually sourced from the United States.

“Fundamentally, there is a gap in data collection. It is a gap the Geological Survey Agency Nigeria should meet,” he said.

A source in Koi told The Guardian that the family members of the district head had since left the community. He said: “They were staying in a multi-storied building. But with the tremors, there is the fear the building could collapse.”

According to one Suleiman Yakubu: “It happened about five times during the night, causing people to run for safety in the morning. It was between 1:00 a.m. and 4:00 a.m. A lot of people were forced to stay awake. Youths later took to the streets. They went to the palace of the chief, Dr. Dalandi Mande, in protest. But the police and vigilance group mobilised, and they were dispersed.”

One Anthony, a trader and non-native, said: “We have never experienced this before. We want to go back to our places, so that when things settle we could come back.”

Some persons in Koi community, however, attributed the seismic event to a recent cutting down of sacred trees by officials of the local electricity distribution company and consequent refusal by the gods to be appeased.

Nigeria, in June this year, reported tremors in parts of Oyo, Bayelsa and Rivers States. Until 2016, the country experienced tremors in 1933, 1939, 1964, 1984, 1990, 1994, 1997, 2000 and 2009.

15 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Land is settling…lol

  • Author’s gravatar

    What a shame on the geologists of Nigeria for replying on few data’s on tremor from US, Haba Nigeria has been having department of geology in our Universities since 60s yet they can’t research into earth tremor, upon all government huge investment in education and all professors of geology in Nigeria they need to cover their faces with their hands

    • Author’s gravatar

      Sorry, no government in Nigeria has ever taken the risk to invest in any research. To pay workers in those institutions has nothing to do with say money set aside for research.

      • Author’s gravatar

        Your claims are not true, please do some findings on this
        1, Nigeria Universities needs assessments funding
        2, TETFUND program for sponsoring PhD research students both local and abroad
        3. PTDF trust fund
        4, Government special intervention funds in Nigeria Universities
        You’ll be convinced that federal government has invested huge sum of money (Billions) in research in Nigeria, ASSU claims during strike are not always tenable that is why the always referred to 2009 agreement

        • Author’s gravatar

          Maybe you see sponsoring a PhD work is a research then we are as infants. Mention any research work being or ever sponsored by the government.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Have you ever heard of PRODA, FIRO, NIFOR, NISDA, NISEER etc, please do some findings before you reply base your comments facts not them say

          • Author’s gravatar

            Go to any of the first three research Institutions the PRODA, FIIRO and NIFOR and mention my name, and see whether at least one or two officers will not know me. Building houses or what you may universities or research institutions is different from funding Researchs. The life of researchers are wasted there as they are paid their monthly salaries and no money is committed for a serious research. Where are we today if researches have been going on. One may be if at all be started and will be stopped at its embryo. As a result of the things and thinking leaders see research as waste of money, because it does not yield immediate results. Nigeria is endowed with Nature, but it imports everything the citizens eat.

          • Author’s gravatar

            Do you know what I appreciate in your comments was ‘SERIOUS RESEARCH’ how come we have many professors in our Nigeria Universities???? The last I checked professor is not a degree but based on researched and published work…… Are saying our academic researcher are junks or copying and paste researchers if yes who is to be blame???? But you’ll agree that government can’t fund all researches we also need the private sectors to complement the effort of the government for implementation of researched work

          • Author’s gravatar

            In a world of the developing countries, it should and must be the responsibility of the government to provide money for scientific and engineering researches. Private sector is like not existing, but struggling to fasten foot (not feet) on the soft and wet ground. The colonial masters never designed in particular African countries to be on their own (self thinking). I think we can end this discussion. May God bless you.

    • Author’s gravatar

      ????????? Na wa oooo.

    • Author’s gravatar

      did you said “all government huge investment in education”? hum…

  • Author’s gravatar

    Earthquakes will soon swallow el rufai

  • Author’s gravatar

    Monitoring seismic events or trends shouldn’t be that expensive these days. We have standard MidOceanic ridges and major fault zones almost already known. We dont have any known zones of subductions which are far more complicated to monitor. Should our Federal Agencies be interested, its very affordable to set up monitoring stations in geoscience labs of the Universities closest to these fault zones.

    Planting geophones along the major faults especially along the coast lines monitored on a daily basis by students might be the cheapest way for the time being. Because, tremors traditionally originate from prolongations of instabilities from sea floor spreadings.

    However, local events are possible, such as provocative or spurious magmatizations. IN that case, we can only focus on semi active zones as we try to bring in updated equipments that can do remote monitoring

  • Author’s gravatar

    Perhaps God’s judgement on the Land…As a result of the grievous laws being presently prescribed by the Islamist government of El-Rufai…More to come Mr Rufai…This time the tremor will be under your very own bed!