By Nwanosike Onu, Awka, Emma Elekwa, Onitsha, Simon Utebor, Yenagoa; Mike Odiegwu, Port Harcourt; Linus Oota, Lafia; Uja Emmanuel, Makurdi; Justina Asishana, Minna; Chris Njoku, Owerri; Elo Edremoda, Warri and Okungbowa Aiwerie, Asaba

• How flood swept my wife, three children away -Survivor

• Disaster claims 14 lives in Niger, separates families in Rivers 

• Girl suffers snake bite as reptiles, displaced victims struggle for space in camp

Tales of deaths, homelessness, and material losses have continued to reverberate from one part of the country to another as an end to the havoc wreaked by flood incidents that swept through the land in the last two weeks appears not yet in sight.

In many communities from north to south, hordes of hapless citizens are locked in grief over the havoc wreaked by floods in different parts of the country. In some pitiable instances, parents watch tearfully as rescue operators pull the lifeless bodies of their children out of water. In others, husbands helplessly watch their drowned wife floating and being taken out or the other way round.

Among the states mostly affected by the disaster is Anambra where floods have taken over four local government areas with many buildings submerged. The impact of the natural disaster was such that no fewer than 13  holding camps have been created by government in different parts of the state for the purpose of harbouring Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

According to the Executive Secretary of State Emergency Management Agency SEMA, Chief Paul Odenigbo, floods have already taken over six of the 21 local government areas in Anambra State. The affected LGAs include Anambra East, Anambra West, Ayamelum, Awka North, Ihiala and Ogbaru.

Many others remain trapped in their houses with many residents also losing loved one. Among them is Mathew Umeorji, an indigene of Awo Idemili, Imo State who lives in Ossomala, Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, who lost his wife, Gladys.

“It is a terrible experience for me. We were forewarned by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) but we refused to heed the advice and we are suffering for it,” he said.

A worse victim was Mr Bernard Achonu who lost his wife and three children. The sobbing breadwinner told one of our correspondents:

“I’m short for words. This is the worst situation I have ever been in life. Where do I start from with my wife and three children lost?”

The flood menace in Ogbaru has been the worst in the six affected local government areas, according to the SEMA boss, Odenigbo.

A visit to one of the holding camps in Otuocha, Anambra East Local Government Area showed that virtually all the IDP camps are overstretched. Apart from the challenge of accommodation, facilities like mattresses, buckets and cooking utensils are grossly inadequate.

Regrettably, while many IDPs are busy searching for safer grounds to relocate to, snakes, pythons and other reptiles pushed out by the floods are also searching for where to hide their heads, with the result that man and reptiles are now in battle for space.

That has been the case at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Ochuche Umuodu in Ogbaru Local Government Area where reptiles have infiltrated the camps of victims. The children are also exposed to cold and mosquito bites.

One of the camp’s occupants, Mr. Chuka Osadebe, who was at the facility with members of his family, narrated how one of his daughters was bitten by a snake.

He said: “While several other residents were relocating to stay with their friends and relations, we didn’t have anywhere to run to, because none of my relations and friends are within the locality. That was why we decided to come here.

“Although this place appears to be a bit better than where we came from, it has not been easy for me and my family.

“We were asleep the other day when a snake crawled into this place and bit my daughter. But, thank God, it is gradually healing even without any medication.”

At Umuzu community in Ogbaru Local Government Area, many of the residents are trapped. A community leader, Christopher Okwusa, said there was no single IDP camp in the entire area. He said the closest one in Okija was grossly insufficient.

Okwuosa, the Chairman of Children of Farmers Club, said: “It is indeed an ugly situation. I lost all. My farm was submerged with about 1,200 tubers of yam and my fish cage all gone. A lot of other people lost so many things to floods.

At Father Joseph Memorial High School, Otuocha, no fewer than 700 displaced persons were sighted. Those who spoke to one of our correspondents complained about congestion as well as absence of mattresses.

One of the occupants, Adaora Uche, said:”We are making use of mats and wrappers as improvised beddings. The food they are giving us is grossly inadequate.”

At Iyiowa Odekpe, a House of Representatives member, Hon. Chukwuka Onyema, provided a three-storey building for the housing of IDPs

Heealso provided the victims with relief materials while many of them battled for space.

Despair, agony, horror in Bayelsa

In Bayelsa State, many indigenes and residents alike have been singing songs of despair, agony and horror, no thanks to the devastating floods that have hit many homes and communities in the oil-rich state.

With many areas located within flood plains and below sea levels, flooding has become almost an annual occurrence in the state since 2012.

While few persons have lost their lives during this current flooding, many have been sacked from their residences and places where they eke out a living. Yet, many others are begging the government to relocate them to Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.

Places like Biseni, Tombia-Ekpetiama, the Tombia-Amassoma Road, Akenfa, Akenpai, Igbogene, Swali in Yenagoa and towns such as Kaiama, Odi, Otuoke and Ogbia are facing the menace. Rivers and tributaries like River Nun and the Epie Creek have overflowed their banks.

Many other communities such as Sampou, Kaiama, Gbaranma, Sabagreia, Okoloba, in Sagbama, Ekeremor and Kolokuma-Opokuma local government areas are equally impacted.

During the week, a woman identified simply as Mama Carol, from Amabulu in Ojobo community of Ekeremor but resident in Yenagoa, the state capital, lost her teenage son to the flood.

She had gone to the market last Saturday to buy food items and ingredients to prepare the family lunch only to be welcomed with the sad story that her son, Temedi Yerimene, drowned in a flood near their area.

Madam Carol said: “When I came back from the market, I was told my son had gone swimming with friends. I thought he was swimming in the rising water level at the compound.

“Later, one of his friends told me my son had been dragged by flood into the canal.”

Temedi was killed by a surging flood that flushed him into a deep canal in Igbogene community of Yenagoa LGA.

Sadly, a Police Sergeant, Samson Akpolobode, also got his own dose of despair and horror from the disaster. Akpolobode, who reportedly took a bank facility to buy land and build a two-bedroomed apartment in Ogbogoro community in Yenagoa, lost his entire building to the flood.

Narrating his predicament, the police officer said a huge debt was still hanging on his neck while the bungalow that was his consolation had been swept away.

Akpolobode, who is now homeless, said his wife and five children had relocated to stay with relatives in his village in Angiama in Sagbama area of the state.

The police officer, whom many of his neighbours and colleagues, described as a gentleman and pious Christian, implored the state and federal governments to come to the aid of his family.

Another victim, Mrs. Perez Ayebanua, said the flood waters that entered their houses late last month was still taking a toll on inhabitants with reptiles competing with them for space.

She explained that while those who have the resources have left their flooded homes for hotels or other homes elsewhere, those of them that are not financially buoyant were still stranded.

One of the victims at Akudama community in Biseni Clan, Chief Profit Joel, who was expelled by flood, said their suffering occasioned by the incident was better imagined than experienced.

He said: “It has been a yearly occurrence and we have been calling for the intervention of governments at all levels to provide a lasting solution but to no avail.

“A lasting solution should be provided to save us from this yearly agony. We are really suffering.

“We are also appealing to the government to provide us succour by way of sending us relief materials and also to evacuate us to a habitable location.”

Also, an octogenarian at Gbaran-Ama in Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA, said she had been sacked by flood and did not have anywhere to stay.

The aged woman, who did not want her name mentioned, said although she would join her ancestors when the time comes, she would not want to die by drowning.

She said: “I no longer have a place to lay my head. I now move about like a fugitive looking for where to sleep. One can endure hunger but can one stay inside water? How long can one stay inside the water?

“I am very old. I know I will soon join my ancestors but l don’t want to get drowned. Let the people that are ruling us come and rescue me.”

Flooded roads, others

A tour of the East West Road connecting the Southsouth region to Lagos, the Southeast and other parts of the country revealed that flooding was already affecting some sections of the road.

Worse hit is the Patani section, a town in Delta State that shares boundary with Bayelsa communities such as Adagbabiri  which is already submerged.

The Mbiama Bridge, which connects many Engenne communities in Rivers State to Bayelsa, is also being threatened by rampaging flood waters from the river underneath which is full to the brim.

Floods have affected some roads, particularly the Bulou-Orua axis on the Sagbama-Ekeremor Road, which has been cut off due to the pressure from rampaging flood.

Schools in Bayelsa State are on a six-week break to protect pupils and students from the disaster.

Government intervention

Although the surging flood is at its worst stage across Nigeria at the moment, the people of Bayelsa, one of the worst hit states, should, at least, heave a sigh for some relief as the government is not entirely leaving them to their fate.

Recently, the Douye Diri-led government inaugurated a task force on flooding. The Governor also approved an initial sum of N450 million for the relocation of persons displaced by floods across the state to higher grounds and for the provision of relief materials.

The exercise, according to him, would commence immediately and would carried out on a local government basis.

The state Task Force Committee on Flood Mitigation and Management said the only way to manage the situation was to construct water barriers across the shorelines of flood-prone coastal communities in the state.

The task force committee, therefore, went on an on-the-spot inspection tour of the communities affected by the 2022 floods in the state, visiting Yenagoa and Kolokuma/Opokuma LGAs. The areas visited were Yenagoa main town, Obele, Agudama-Epie, Akenfa-Epie and Igbogene-Epie communities in the state capital, which were largely submerged.

Other areas inspected by the task force in Yenagoa were the Zarama/Okodia/Biseni Clan where it was observed that all the communities in that axis were totally submerged as flood victims were seen staying on the tarred road,  which is now the only high land in the area and their temporary place of abode.

Suffering was boldly written all over their faces. Hardship, agony and inconveniences that always come with excessive flooding were telling on the victims, who could not hold back their pains but cried to governments at all levels to come to their aid.

The ugly tale of the devastating flood was not different at Kaiama, headquarters of KOLGA and other communities in the LGA such as Kalama, Gbaran-Ama, Okoloba and Sabagreia.

Their farmlands, crops and other sources of livelihood were washed away even as they were rendered homeless. Their primary and secondary citadels of learning have also been engulfed by the waters.

Led by its chairman and Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Iselema Gbaranbiri, the task force revealed that the state through the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure had already kick-started the water barriers construction project, using Odi and Sampou communities in Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA and Okutukutu community in Yenagoa as pilot areas, adding that the experiment had paid off.

According to Gbaranbiri, Odi community, which used to be flood-prone, is 95 per cent protected from flooding, thanks to the water barrier constructed across its shoreline.

It was observed that what protected the River Nun water from overflowing the community was a concrete wall. The water on the riverside was glaringly higher than the land but was unable to penetrate because of the barrier. The situation has kept the community dry, save for some areas where water had to penetrate through canals from the bush.

At Sampou, Governor Diri’s country home, a similar feat was observed as the water level at the riverbank was higher than the ground level but the water was prevented from by a barricade wall from flowing into the town.

The water was, however, submerging some areas from behind the community through canals from the bush.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Moses Teibowei, noted that he and his team had noticed the lapses to be corrected in the pilot water barriers project, adding that such would be corrected before the next rainy season to ensure total protection from flood in those communities.

Flood incidents separate families in Rivers

The flood incidents have also left many people devastated in Rivers State. One of the victims, Chika Jean-Adiemea, is in trauma. Her booming commercial farming business is gone.

“Where do I start from?” she wept as she narrated her ordeal in the Omoku area of Rivers State.

Chika has since fled her Aggah community in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, leaving her separated from her children who she has sent to their uncle’s place in Port Harcourt while she takes refuge in Omoku.

The entire Aggah community has been sacked by the ravaging floods. Buildings, roads and trees have all gone under water. Even the roofs of houses are not spared as the entire area looks like the sea.

Apart from Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni, a significant part of Ahoada Local Government Area is also overflowing with water. The East-West Road between Ahoada and Bayelsa axis has turned into the East-West river, rendered impassable by high-current floods.

Like others in Aggah community, the flood is a major setback for Chika. Although she lost other valuables, her major concern is her cassava business, which is her major source of income.

Chika is known for planting cassava on a large expanse of land, harvesting it later and processing it into cassava flakes popularly called garri. Unfortunately, the flood washed away her 21-plot cassava farmland.

She said: “I am a businesswoman and a farmer. I deal in garri. I plant, process and sell. What the flood has done to me is unexplainable. One needs to experience it before one can understand.

“This is the worst we have had in recent times. The flood damaged a lot of things. The 21 plots of land where I planted cassava that is due for harvest in November was submerged. My car and properties are buried in the water and the water got up to the roof level. Even N10 million cannot solve the setback this flood has done to me.

“I did not uproot any cassava because of the level of flood which we had thought would be like that of 2012. Before we realised what was happening, the water had already taken over the entire place.

“Business activities have been grounded because we cannot access the communities without boats. Hunger is what we face here. I thank God I sent my children to Port Harcourt to stay with my uncle. I am in my uncle’s house in Omoku, taking refuge.”

For Sandra Ubah, a nurse eking out a living from her pharmaceutical store, her means of livelihood is no more. The drugstore has been submerged by water. Sandra said she fled with her children to a nearby village in Imo State where they now sleep in an open space.

She said: “I have lost millions of naira to the flood. It damaged many things.

“I am a nurse. I run a pharmacy shop in the community but it was submerged all of a sudden.

“We woke up in the morning and discovered that water had soaked everything including  more than eight plots of land where I farm.

“I could not enter the water to uproot the cassava because the water keeps rising per day, and there is nothing I can do to salvage what is left.

“I just woke up to see everything I had toiled for destroyed by water, and it is heartbreaking.

“I did not remove a pin from my pharmacy shop because it happened in the night and by dawn, everywhere was submerged. And you know drugs, when water touches them, there is no remedy.

“I have lost more than N5 million in that shop coupled with my farm, it is daunting for me and my children because we sleep in an open place in a village in Imo State.”

Alexander Ubah is, however, concerned about his safety. He is still trapped in the flooded community. But he was able to send his children to Port Harcourt.

He said: “My farms are submerged in the water. My compound is already submerged in the water. My foams are floating. As a matter of fact, I asked my children to go and live in Port Harcourt while I seek a place to stay.

“We are no longer talking about properties. The few I could save I saved, but one cannot save everything because there is no assurance of safety. We are all living at the mercy of God.

“Everywhere is submerged and it is not easy. There is no outlet in Aggah community in ONELGA council of Rivers State.

“If you want to move to the nearest community, you have to swim in water that will get to one’s chest. We are having serious trauma because we do not know where to start from.

“Everybody is crying for God’s mercy. The bridge at Ibocha is submerged. The water is six feet above the bridge.”

Kelly Rufus, said since he was born, it was the first time he would experience the magnitude of flood that hit his community.

He said: “Apart from the livestock and farmlands that have been ravaged by water, we have been displaced by the floods. We are not happy because we have been displaced from our ancestral homes.

“It has been quite difficult to cope or find somewhere to lay one’s head, and this is where I believe the government should step in. Immediately the flood came, it came as a surprise. Some people in the community have packed and repacked about four times.

“When they pack from their houses in the belief that they have cousins or uncles whose houses are in upland, the new place gets flooded and they are forced to move again.

“This is the first time in my life that I would see this magnitude of water. The entire Egbema has been submerged like you cannot access or leave Egbema.

“There are no recognised government IDP camps here. What I know is that people some days ago took over the community’s civic centre, which is not even a camp, and the community town hall could not be opened. So some people used the place to keep their properties and maybe lay their heads at night.

“It is not only the flood, but how to repair the damaged houses. Government should show compassion to the people because there will be a lot of hunger and criminal activities after the floods.

“People whose farms had been damaged no longer have a place to farm to produce garri and sell to make ends meet. Those who have criminal tendencies may resort to stealing from others”.

Succour appears to have come the way of the victims following the recent approval of N1bn by the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, to provide emergency relief measures to support them in Ahoada West and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas of the state.

The governor, who empathised with the victims, also set up a taskforce to coordinate the distribution of the relief materials to affected communities in the state.

Wike said the money approved by the Rivers State Government was to enable vulnerable families, particularly in the impacted local government areas, to cope with the disaster.

The governor said the Permanent Secretary, Special Services Bureau (SSB) in the Office of the Secretary to the Rivers State Government, Dr. George Nwaeke, would serve as the chairman of the taskforce, while Mrs. Inime I. Aguma would be the Secretary.

Agrarian communities sacked in Delta

Rampaging flood also sacked the agrarian community of Umeh, Isoko South LGA, Delta State, washing away crops valued at millions of naira, rendering thousands homeless in the community on a tributary of the River Niger, according to Simon Emamowho, President General, Umeh community.

He said the community was under siege on three fronts: ravaging floods, a race to evacuate trapped residents from submerged homes and fixing (albeit temporarily) the collapsing Umeh Bridge, its only link to the outside world.

He said rescuers were racing against the elements in their bid to evacuate trapped residents from submerged homes.

He said the seven kilometre Umeh Road constructed in 2012 links 12 other low lying communities with the East/West Road.

He said the Umeh Bridge must be prevented from collapse at all cost, adding that it plays a vital role in the evacuation of farm produce from the agrarian community.

But with the meteorological agency (NIMET) predicting more floods, there is apprehension among residents that the all-important Umeh Bridge may collapse, causing them to be be cut off from the outside world.

This existential crisis forced Umeh residents to embark on remedial work on the bridge to prevent its collapse, notwithstanding the inherent risks.

Led by its President General, Simon Emamowho, community youths embarked on filling the yawning cavity under the Umeh Bridge with sand bags in a futile bid to protect it.

Justifying the intervention on the Umeh Bridge, Emamowho said: “We have just one road leading into Umeh. It was built during Governor Uduaghan administration.

“Umeh is the least accessible community in Isoko South and North LGAs. And we suffered this for decades despite the fact that we produce tonnes of plantain and cassava for markets in big cities of Port Harcourt, Lagos and so on.

“Umeh is agrarian and the bridge plays an important role in our economic well being. We recognise the risks our young men are taking to shore up the bridge with sand bags. We are prepared to take any measure to save the bridge because if it collapses we will die of hunger.

“We do not want to go back to the pre-2012 era when we could not evacuate our farm produce due to non-existent roads.”

Over 500 IDP’s have been evacuated to the Internally Displaced Persons Camp established by the state government in Oleh, Isoko South LGA, according to Emamowho.

He appealed to both federal and state authorities to come to their rescue, stressing that the cost of transporting hundreds of IDP’s marooned in Umeh to government established camp in Oleh was borne by the community.

According to him, evacuating IDP’s to Oleh is a long, expensive and tortuous journey as IDP’s have to make a 100-kilometre trip to get to IDP camp in Oleh to reach help.

He said the community bore the cost for the sharp sand used to shore up the failed portion of the bridge, stressing that materials were purchased in Kaiaima and Sagbama communities in neighbouring Bayelsa State because all the sand pits in the vicinity had been flooded.

Efforts to reach the Director General, 2022 Delta State Flood Management Committee, Eugene Ozum, proved abortive as he failed to pick his call or respond to the SMS sent to him.

Two-week old Excess Efemena, was among hundreds of victims of flood disaster camped at the Isoko Central School (ICS), Oleh, the headquarters of Isoko South council area of Delta State.

The Nation reports that the camp, which was opened on Tuesday, October 11 has Internally Displaced Persons (IDPS), including expectant mothers and children, from communities which include Oleh, Irri, Idheze, Uzere in Isoko South Local Government Area, Umonu, Iyede-Ame among others in Ndokwa East LGA, running into more than 500 people as at noon on Thursday.

Sarah, mother of Excess, who has seven other children, said they arrived at the camp on Tuesday following floods that ravaged their residence in Ezede Quarters of Uzere community.

In a chat with this reporter, she disclosed that all their farm products were lost to the ravaging flood.

“She (Excess) is two weeks old. We came here on Tuesday after the flood entered our house.

“My husband and I do farming together. He is at the other side of the camp.

“We have eight children and we are all here. We farm mostly cassava and groundnuts but everything got lost in the flood,” she said.

On arrival at the camp, this reporter observed the departure of a truck that had just brought in a number of displaced persons from one of the affected communities.

Dozens of people were seen queueing  up to register. Others sat huddled together at the verandah of the classrooms, eating.

In the makeshift rooms, victims had wrappers, mats or blankets spread on the floor. Some had their luggage at a corner of the room.

SEMA officials were heard asking to see victims’ luggages and make sure they would sleep in the camp before they could be registered. This, it was gathered, was to avoid unaffected persons from taking advantage of the situation.

One of the victims who had just arrived at the camp from Irri community, Helen and her six-month old, Emma, said: “Yesterday, water entered our house. But we raised our property and slept like that.

“By this morning, it was something else. We decided to come here to have somewhere safe to put our heads”.

She also called on the Delta State Government and well-meaning Nigerians to render assistance to the victims.

The camp Commandant, Mrs Elizabeth Chukwurah,

Director Relief, Rescue and Rehabilitation of Delta State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said as of Thursday morning, about 400 victims had been registered.

Houses submerged in Nasarawa

In Nasarawa State, floods also submerged many houses while some were completely washed away. Some others were reduced to piles of mud. Farmlands and crops were washed away, leaving the people hungry.

There were tales of woes in many of the communities that were affected by the floods, as the rains came with attendant floods, leaving on their trail a monumental devastation in areas like Awe, Doma, Lafia, Karu, Toto and Nasarawa LGAs.

The floods swept away many residents while thousands of others were rendered homeless with their houses swept away.

Our correspondent, who visited the devastating areas, was told many tales of woe.

Mr Yakubu, a young man who lost all his belongings to the floods, said: “The flood has taken away everything I have. Look at my people outside; I’m now left without anything. This is my house submerged by floods and I don’t have anything again.”

59 years old Adamu Kotoro, looking weak and sickly, said: ” We have lost everything to the floods: our clothes, cooking items, foodstuffs, beds, among others.

“We have remained standing for several nights as it is water everywhere.  Look around, you will see young men sleeping on trees in hunger and hopelessness.

“There is nowhere to go for help. We are appealing to government to help us. We are dying of hunger.

Mary David, daughter of the family of Adagba of Ijiwo community of Doma LG had tears in her eyes as she recalled the events on the night of the flood.

She said: “There was dark water everywhere. And now, whenever it rains, I’m afraid. All the memories always come back.

“It was here that the waters rose suddenly on the night of September 12, 2022 and completely flooded the Ijiwo’ house”

The Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA), said no fewer than 361,000 persons had been displaced by flood following recent heavy rains in the state.

Mr Zachary Allumaga, the Executive Secretary, NASEMA, in an interview with our correspondent said that the flood affected about 23 communities in seven local government areas of the state.

He said that there was a high probability that more than one million people could be displaced by flood in the state before the end of the rainy season.

He said the agency had dispatched a search and rescue team and its officials to the affected areas and communities for immediate assessment.

Allumaga said Nasarawa was among the states that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) predicted would experience serious flooding in 2022, particularly in the month of September and October.

“Towards that end, NASEMA with the authority of the governor started sensitising the people living at flood-prone areas like Nasarawa, Toto, Doma, Awe, Lafia, Obi, Karu and Akwanga.

“Five speed boats and live jackets were given to five LGAs along the coast of River Benue. Unfortunately, flood has started ravaging Lafia, Obi, Nasarawa, Toto, Awe, Doma and Karu with one death recorded.”

According to Allumaga, efforts are being made to assist the displaced persons with some relief materials to cushion the hardship they were facing.

“We are making purchases of food items and non-food items such as grains, rice, beans, oils, mattresses, mats, blankets, toiletries, buckets, cups, food, children’s clothes, and mosquito nets among others for onward distribution to the affected persons,” Allumaga said.

He, however, appealed to the people living in the riverine areas to move to higher ground, adding that the rains would increase with the likelihood of more floods in the months of September and October.

Both the Federal and the Nasarawa State Governments distributed relief materials worth millions of naira to victims of recent floods in Loko Development Area of Nasarawa State.

Nasarawa State Governor, Engineer Sule handed the relief materials for onward distribution to the victims, at a ceremony in Loko recently.

Presenting the relief materials, Engineer Sule said both the Federal and Nasarawa State governments found it necessary to come to the aid of the people affected through the distribution of relief materials to alleviate their plight.

This was just as the Governor said steps were being taken to address the root cause of the seasonal floods ravaging not only Nasarawa State but across the country.

According to Engineer Sule, governors have resolved to meet President Muhammadu Buhari, with a view to appealing to him to consider approaching Cameroon in order to tackle the perennial release of water from dams which leads to flooding in Nigeria.

He said the governors will also talk to the President on the need to dredge local rivers to allow smooth flow of water.

Items donated by the Federal Government to be distributed to the victims include 225 mattresses, 570 mosquito nets, 435 blankets, 435 towels, 435 plastic mats, 435 wrappers for women, 435 buckets, 435 plastic plates, 435 cups, 435 spoons, 57 packs of diapers for nursing mothers, 33 cartons of soap, 33 cartons of detergent, 57 units of cooking utensils, 330 pieces of men’s clothing, 435 pieces of children’s clothing and 435 pieces of women clothing. On her part, Nasarawa State donated food items including 57 bags each of beans, rice and maize, 25 bags of millet, 33 bags of guinea corn, 17 bags of sugar and 33 bags of garri.

Imo, Benue, Niger not excluded

In Imo, Francis Odogwu, who lost virtually everything including his house which has been submerged by the flood, wept profusely on the road when our correspondent approached him for comments.

He said: “Unless the government can come to my aid and that of my family, I do not know how I can survive this predicament that has been fallen me.

Mrs. Clara Iwueke decried the horrible situation caused by the flood, saying, “The flood will escalate hunger because there are no farmlands again to work on.”

A widow, Mrs. Juliana Agu, from Inyisi, Oguta LGA, commended government for showing presence and urged them to come fast with their proposed aid to ameliorate their suffering

Christian Anyanwu from Eziorsu, Oguta, whose house was submerged in the flood and got them trapped, said he and his family were rescued with help from local fishermen.

According to him, “my farmland and fish pond worth millions of naira perished in the flood. I want the government to come to our assistance.”

Speaking to The Nation, the NEMA head of operations, Abia/Imo office, Ifeanyi Nnaji, said the devastating flood had swept away many residents while thousands of others were rendered homeless with their houses completely submerged.

He disclosed that several thousands of hectares of farmlands had been swallowed by the flood, leaving the farmers poor and hopeless.

He suggested that to find everlasting solution to this flood disaster, “Government of Imo State should dredge tributaries of Rivers Niger like Orashi River and at the same time, improve the economy of such location so that the inhabitants of the area will have access to transport their farm produce and other local products through modernised waterway transport.”

Malam Musa Umar, one of the people affected by the Kontagora flood in Niger State, lost 6,000 fish that were already mature and ready for sale. Umar also lost other valuables from his house and farm worth N4 million. Umar said that he was still recovering from the losses because the fishes were supposed to have given him profit if he was able to sell them, but the flood washed them all away.

The flood in Kontagora affected Anguwan Yamma, Sabon Gari, BCG and Mayanka as houses were flooded, destroying people’s property.

In Lavun Local Government Area of Niger State, the flood caused by heavy downpour submerged several communities including Doko, Egagi, Saaci-nku, Mambe, Nku, Kosso, Kuchita, Fokpo Kutigi-side, Ndako-gitsu, Tsoegi and Tsonfada-Gabi.

Over 3,000 people were displaced with one death recorded. Those displaced are taking refuge with friends and relatives in neighbouring villages.

In Suleja, four people died while domestic properties and farmlands were destroyed as a result of heavy rains.

The government noted that people were being displaced by flood because they mainly built on flood plains or waterways.

The Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) in its last update stated that  20 out of 25 local government areas across the state were experiencing flooding.

The local government areas include Lavun, Magama, Rafi, Kontagora, Gbako, Mokwa, Lapai, Katcha, Agaie Suleja, Shiroro, Mashegu, Agwara, Bida, Edati, Munya, Bosso, Chanchaga, Paikoro and Wushishi.

The agency said that the state had recorded 14 deaths which include six in Magama, two in Kontagora, two in Agwara, and one each in Rafi, Lavun, Bosso and Paikoro

Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello, had directed that all buildings built on waterways be demolished as a way of averting future occurrences.

Mr. Jila Barnabas, a farmer and business man in Benue State, is yet to overcome the loss he suffered as flood submerged and washed  away his 14 hectares rice farm.

Jila Barnabas told The Nation that he spent N1.5m on the rice farm. He put the total loss at N6.5m.

He appealed to both state and federal governments to help him return back to his rice farm.

The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) said  about 116,984 had been rendered homeless by ravaging floods across Benue State.

In an interview with The Nation  in his office, The  Secretary of SEMA  Dr. Emmanuel Shior, stated that the flood has also affected seven (7) Local Government Areas.

He said the most affected areas are Makurdi , Guma, Logo, Vandeikya and Agatu Local Government Areas.

“In these areas many people have been rendered homeless with property and farmlands washed away,” said Shior.

“So far we have profiled those affected and collected data for distribution of relief materials.”

According to Shior, Governor Samuel Ortom has ordered that food and non-food items be distributed to victims of the flood across the state.