The disastrous effects of the floods caused by the overflow of the River Niger seem not to be abating, with the victims urging the government to end their woes, report NWANOSIKE ONU, OSEMWENGIE OGBEMUDIA and OSAGIE OTABOR
Seven die in Edo camp
THE news from Fugar, in Estako Central Local Government Area of Edo State, where victims of the floods are taking refuge was not chery yesterday.
Seven of the inmates reportedly died while the victims accused health officials of extortion.
But there were reports that other victims at the camp were delivered of seven babies.
Thousands of persons displaced in three local councils in the state when River Niger overflowed its bank, are taking refuge in six camps in the state.
Some of them told The Nation on the telephone that they were not being attended to by health officials sent to the camp.
They alleged that the officials made them pay for drugs provided free by the state government.
The victims said the women gave birth through the assistance of traditional birth attendants and that the medical personnel in the camp were inadequate.
One of the victims, Abdulazeez Alidu, said they only heard about medical kits sent to the camp on the radio but none is available for them.
The coordinator of the Primary Health Care centres in the locality, Dr. Alfred Esiamoghie, confirmed dearth of doctors at the camps.
According to him, only two resident doctors and two members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) attend to the health need of more than 3000 inmates.
Commissioner for Health Dr. Cordelia Aiwize said the government did its best to provide relief materials to the displaced.
She said erring officials would be disciplined.
Permanent Secretary of the Hospital Management Board (HMB) Dr. Irekpono Omoike said relief agencies had been saddled with co-ordinating the distribution of relief materials.
He promised to investigate those behind the illegal sales of drugs.
FADAMA farmers lose
billions in Edo
EDO State Coordinator of FADAMA III Project, Mrs. Momodu Judith, has said farmers benefitting from the FADAMA grant lost billions of naira to flood in the state.
Mrs. Momodu said the entire rice production belt in the state was washed away by the flood, which affected three local government areas.
In a chat with our reporter yesterday, Mrs. Judith identified the major areas affected by the flood as where farmers benefitting from FADAMA grants carry out their farming activities.
She said many of the farmers were harvesting their crops when the flood struck.
She said: “FADAMA groups at Agenebode, Imievba, Udaba and other places lost their products. Ifeko Island is virtually gone. What was lost cannot be quantified. It run into billions of naira.”
Mrs Judith predicted heavy shortfall in food production in the state.
The Coordinator of All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) in Edo North Senatorial District, Alhaji Abdulahi Mohammed, also urged the Federal Government to take adequate steps to avert food crisis that will arise as a result of flooding in parts of the country.
Mohammed noted that without rice from Udaba, Udochi and Anegbette in Etsako Central, yam and cassava from Etsako East and Esan South East, there will be no food in the state.
Harbour Industrial Layout in Onitsha submerged
The Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on National Assembly Matters, Mrs. Joy Emordi wept yesterday like a baby in one of the flood victims’ camp in Onitsha.
The former senator, who represented Anambra North zone, was consoled by victims of the floods as she wept uncontrollably at Bishop Crowther Primary School.
Mrs. Emordi, who was at the victims camps with various relief materials, said she never knew the extent of the devastation.
Some of the items included: more than 50 bags of rice, over 1,000 pillows, 1,000 blankets, 1,000 buckets, 500 cartons of Indomie Noodles, 500 cartons of detergents, 500 cartons of biscuits, many cartons of tomatoe paste, assorted vegetables oils and beverages among others.
She, however, called for the establishment of a special trust fund for such emergencies to discourage people from relying solely on the state and federal governments.
The trust fund, Emordi said, should be proactive in rehabilitating victims after the disasters, adding that wealthy Anambra people, state government, corporate organisations should be involved.
Besides, the former senator suggested that a special committee, made up of reliable Anambra indigenes should manage.
She urged medical personnel and non governmental organisations (NGOs) to rally round the victims.
The Anglican Bishop of Mbamili Diocese, the Right Rev. Henry Okeke, who received Emordi, said Anambra State Governor Peter Obi had already created many camps to shelter the flood victims.
He said that the Bishop Crowther Camp alone, was housing over 950 victims, mainly from Anambra East Local Government Area.
Another site visited by Mrs. Emordi is the flooded Harbour Industrial Layout in the commercial city of Onitsha.
At the Layout, Emordi noted that more than 39 companies, had been consumed by the ravaging flood.
Idheze community seeks govt’s assistance
RESIDENTS of Idheze, an oil producing community in Isoko South Local Government of Delta State, have called on Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to come to their rescue as flood has taken over their homes.
President of Idheze Community Development Union (ICDU), Mr. Richard Okogba, said, in a statement yesterday that the flood rendered many people homeless and destroyed farmlands.
Okogba said in the statement: “The flood got to our community last week and has destroyed our crops; took over our community clinic, part of the secondary school and many houses. Right now, our people are taking refuge at the community primary school and that is temporary because we do not know when the flood will get there to the school. This is why we humbly calling on the government to come to our aid.”
According to him, famine looms in the community because all their crops have been destroyed, urging the government to rehabilitate the affected people.
Fed Govt to introduce flood
resistant rice, says Minister
PLANS are afoot by the Federal Government to partner with the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines for the introduction of flood-resistant rice in the country, Agriculture Minister Dr. Akinwumi Adeshina said at the weekend.
The minister, who spoke in Ilorin, after visiting Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara at the Government House, was in the state to inspect farms destroyed by flood in Edu and Patigi local government areas.
He said the government would also distribute to farmers free of charge, high-yielding maize seedlings that can mature in 60 days.
He added that the government was making provision for other high -ielding and flood resistant seedlings.
According to Adeshina, the gesture is to ensure that the devastation of farmlands across the country by floods does not lead to food scarcity.
He sympathised with the government and people of the state on the incident, even as he attributed the floods to climate change.
Ahmed solicited greater involvement of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in providing succour to flood victims.
The flood affected more than 70 communities in Patigi Local Government Area and submerged 16 villages in the state.
5,775 Kogi farmers affected
At least, 5, 775 farmers in Kogi State had their farmlands submerged by the recent flood disaster in 41 wards of the state, the state Chairman, Rice Farmers Cooperative Union, Mr Umoru Adejoh, has said.
Adejoh told reporters at the weekend in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, that the number represented those who complained to the union.
He said the number of those affected might rise, as the nine communities ravaged by the flood are “the food basket of the state.”
Adejoh predicted a sharp increase in the prices of rice, fish and other basic food items due to the floods, adding that the flooding occurred when farmers were set to harvest their produce.
According to him, over 200, 000 hectares of rice farms and other crops have been washed away.
He described the disaster as very ominous for the nation’s agricultural sector, “as many of the farmers obtained loans to cultivate large farmlands this year”.
Adejoh appealed to the federal and state governments to come to the aid of the affected farmers to enable them recoup their losses and remain in business.
Fear of hunger is real
THOUSANDS of hectares of farmland, especially of cassava and vegetables have been completely washed away by the floods in Asaba Ase, Abari, Ekregbesi, Uzere, Aviara and Iwelle among other areas.
At Okrama-Oyede in Isoko North Local Government Area, traumatised residents have resigned to fate.
Their belongings were seen floating.
Okrama-Oyede is an agrarian community sharing boundary with Ibedeni, Ukpude and Ivori communities which are also submerged.
However, the victims, who were rescued through government emergency scheme are being quartered at St Michael’s College, Oleh, where government had created a relief camp.
Similarly, decomposing livestock, poultry and wild animals were seen floating, raising concerns about imminent food shortage and epidemic in the affected communities.
A passenger, who rode on a speedboat with our reporter from Uzere to Abari, said: “This land (water) where we are travelling now was a farmland. We used to travel over five kilometres by road to get to the waterside to board a boat, but now it has become a river.”
Mr. Francis Seibido, the immediate past chairman of Abari community, lamented the plight of the victims in the community.
He said: “Right now there is no good water for us to drink in this community. We drink this (flood) water that you are seeing and you know it is unhealthy for us. We need drugs. The only transformer we have has been submerged in the water and right now we do not have light.”
A trader, Mrs. Victoria Daniels, said the price of garri, a staple food in the area, has shot up by over 250 per cent. She said: “Today, a basket of garri is sold for N1,000 and we do not know how much they are going to sell it for us tomorrow. Foodstuff is expensive now because there is no food anywhere and we do not have money to buy food.
“It is true that government has warned us earlier but we did not know that it is going to be like this. Right now we are very hungry here. The government should come to our aid because we are suffering.”
We’re overwhelmed,
says Uduaghan
EDO State Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan said magnitude of the disaster was more than what his government can handle alone.
Uduaghan spoke through Mr. Tony Nwaka, his Commissioner for Special Duties and member of the inter-ministerial committee he set up under the chairmanship of his deputy, Prof. Amos Utuama, (SAN).
He said over 20 of the 25 local government areas of the state have been affected by the flood.
Nwaka said: “Beyond those local government areas far away from the River Niger – less than five – all local government areas of the state and nearly 1,000 communities.
“We have been moving round and we have set up resettlement centres across the state. There are two in Asaba, Illah, Osissa, Kwale, AGGS Ozoro, St. Michael’s College Oleh, Ughelli and Okwagbe, which was opened today.”
Besides, over 25,000 displaced persons in the government centres, the commissioner said there are thousands others scattered across the state.
He said the government is also providing food and medicines for those who shun the resettlement centres and chose to stay with their relatives.
“More and more people are being moved and we are providing medical services in the camps to cater for them. Unfortunately, we have also had to deal with cases of settlements, like that in Ashaka, which we had to close down because it was also flooded,” Nwaka lamented.
Kogi victims take
refuge in Edo
MORE than 1,000 victims of flooding in Kogi State are taking refuge in Illushi, Esan Southeast Local Government Area of Edo State.
The victims have since converted the Illushi Market into their temporary camp, where complaints trail the distribution of relief materials provided by the Governor Adams Oshiomhole-led administration.
One of the women was allegedly delivered of a baby boy last Friday.
One of the victims, Mr. Nelson Arome, said most of the victims came from Omabu community, in Oyedega Local Government Area of Kogi.
Nigerians urge Fed Govt
to act fast
WORRIED over the number of lives and valuable properties lost to flooding in some states across the country, a section of Nigerians yesterday called on the Federal Government (FG) to address the menace.
Mr George Haruna, a civil servant, lamented debilitating toll flooding has taken the economy and food production.
Haruna spoke yesterday with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.
He said: “Most farmers have been displaced as a result of this flood and it has made the cost of foodstuff in the market to increase.”
Besides, the teacher said flooding is enemy to human health, since most of the potable streams and rivers in the country have been contaminated.
A student, Olanrewaju Buhari, said the flood had prevented some students from going to school and that some of their mates in schools not affected by the flood would be ahead of them in their studies.
Admitting that rainfall was natural, Buhari urged the Federal Government to endeavour to provide drainage in strategic places.
Mrs. Beatrice Benjamin, a trader, said that the flooding had affected her fish business.
She said: “The price of fish has gone up a little, but the truth is that is very hard for me to get a carton of fish to buy these days.”
According to her, the Federal Government should act before more lives are lost to the flood.
Her words: “Now we are scared of travelling around in our own country. This should not be. Initially, it was security that was the issue in this country, but now it is flood. This is so sad.
“The government officials should visit Lokoja-Okene road, it is a terrible situation down there. Safety of lives is not guaranteed and trucks plying the route are not helping matters.’’
Mr. Suraj Hassan, a civil servant, said that the flood was due to the lack of proactive measures, suggesting that the river banks should be dredged and the displaced provided with accommodation.
Hassan also urged the authorities to relocate all the houses along the river banks to avoid future occurrence
A businessman, Mr. Bethel Lemchi, warned the government that the flooding being experienced in some parts of the country might lead to food shortage.
Lemchi, who gave the warning in an interview in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, said the disaster had wiped out several farmlands in various parts of the country.
He urged the government to devise measures of managing the expected food crisis which he described as ‘inevitable.’
Lemchi also urged the government to import food items to sustain the population to avert starvation.
“Importation of food should be paramount because the floods have ravaged crops and attention should also be paid to farmers’ welfare,’’ he said.
He attributed the cause of the flood to inadequate provision of drains on the roads.
He said: “A lot of roads have collapsed due poor or no drainage system. Most of the contractors who won contracts to construct roads are driven by selfish gains not the people’s welfare.’’
Lemchi noted that if the contractors had constructed the roads to international standard, flooding would be minimised.
“Flood is a global phenomenon but Nigeria’s case is worse due to poor road network.’’
