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

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

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

The incident that happened on October 5 left the late Bawa’s colleague, Abubakar, who was in the same boat as the deceased, seriously injured.

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

The commissioner said the state government was working on a permanent solution to address this challenge by establishing a sanctuary city for hippopotami.

He said that with such measures in place, the safety of animals and humans 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 a 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 the water.

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

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

“I also got a 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 way without taking precautions,” he said.

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

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

Mr. Bima urged the community around the riverbanks to avoid anything that could cause a clash between its people and the animals.

He also called on the government to find a lasting solution to the challenge to avert future clashes.

A few days after the incident, some fishermen were also attacked but survived with varying degrees of injuries.

(NAN)