Floods: Snake kills village head’s wife in Plateau


The floods in some parts of Nigeria has increased cases of snakebites in Plateau and other States.

Among those killed is the wife of the village head of Magama in Langtang South Local Government of Plateau.

Dr Nandul Durfa, Managing Director of a company which produces Anti-Snake Venom (ASV) told NAN the situation was scary.

“There is a huge rise in snakebite cases; one of the victims is the wife of the village head of Magama.

“Snakes and humans are all running away from the floods and would usually clash in the dry lands in the struggle for space”, he noted.

Dr Abubakar Saidu Balla since farmlands are wet, snakes go to higher grounds where they mix with people.

Balla noted that the floods forced snakes to migrate or carry them from forests to homes or over river banks.

The Research Officer at Snakebite Research Hospital, Kaltungo in Gombe said Riverine areas in Borno, Adamawa, Kogi, Gombe and Bauchi were also affected.

He lamented that victims cannot go to medical centres because the roads and bridges are either washed away or flooded.

“In the rural areas, the motorcycles help, but they cannot ride through the water now. Very often, victims reach treatment centres dead”, the expert added.