By PETER UWUMAROGIE

The Gombe State Government has issued a safety advisory urging residents to take caution, especially those living near riverine areas.

Mr Mohammed Fawu, the Commissioner for Water, Environment, and Forest Resources in Gombe State, gave the advice following a recent deadly hippopotamus attack in Dadinkowa River.

Yahuza Bawa, a 19-year-old farmer from Dadin Kowa Community in Yamaltu/Deba Local Government Area of Gombe State was killed by hippopotamus while fishing in the Dadin Kowa River.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident which happened on Oct. 5, left late Bawa’s colleague, Abubakar, who was in the same boat as the deceased seriously injured.

Fawu while sympathising with the deceased family said that the state government responded proactively when the incident happened which led to the recovery of the deceased body from the river for burial.

Fawu said that the state government was working on a permanent solution to address this challenge by establishing a sanctuary city for hippopotamus.

He said with such in place, the safety of the animal and human would be guaranteed and similar clashes in the future would be averted.

“This is quite unfortunate that it has happened and it is because of misunderstanding between the animal and the community.

“From the report I heard, this is the time that the animals have a lot of young ones and are very aggressive and feel threatened whenever they see people in water.

“At this time, anyone in sight for them (hippopotamus), they feel those persons are coming for their young ones and that makes them aggressive to attack anyone.”

The commissioner urged farmers to be cautious and avoid the waters since the river horses were mostly in their breeding period and were more aggressive at this time.

“I also got report that after that attack, other fishermen still went fishing and were attacked but thankfully no lives were lost.

“Fishermen should not go out of their ways without taking precautions.

“So don’t go fishing when such activities could take your lives because you have to be alive to have a livelihood,”

He said officials of the ministry had been sensitising and would continue to sensitise the communities around the river bank.

Reacting to the incident, Mr Ismail Bima, an environmentalist in the state urged fishermen to consider alternative means to their vocation by investing in fishing farming using ponds.

Bima while sympathising with the deceased family further urged the community around the river banks to avoid whatever could create clash between its people and the animal.

He also called on the government to find a lasting solution to the challenge to avert future clashes while urging support for residents to embark on fish farming to reduce regular contact of fishermen and hippos.

NAN learnt that few days after the incident, some fishermen were also attacked but survived with varying degrees of injuries. (NAN)