Flood



George Okoh

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has registered 13,428 internally displaced people as well as 30 communities which were submerged by floods in Taraba State.

In Markurdi, the Benue State capital, came a report that the impact of the flood from the River Benue continued to wreak havoc in some parts of Makurdi metropolis, as an early surge affected the homes of Senator George Akume, and that of the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom.

But, NEMA in a statement signed by its Head of Public Relations, Mr. Yushau Shuaib, said the affected communities were in Ibi and Wukari local government areas of the state.

He noted that in the course of conducting a rapid response assessment during the tours of the councils, it was discovered that bridges linking various communities were cut off by the flood due to overflow of River Benue as well as the release of water from the Kiri Dam in Adamawa State and from Lagdo Dam in the Republic of Cameroun.

Other affected areas, according to him were places of worship, farmlands, hospitals, schools and markets, adding that some of the communities can only be reached by canoes and boats as rescue and emergency officers have so far visited mostly affected areas especially in Chinkai, Ando-yako, Warawa, Dampar, Ibi town, Badodo, Chaschangi, Isini, Mai itache, unguwan danbaki,Sai, Gungun Abdullahi Unguwan makeri, Wazirin bannu, Sai Danpar-unguwan saraki, Unguwan Kabawa, Sarkin Noma, Unguwan Maisanko, Baruwa, and Unguwan Nufawa, among others.

“The traditional ruler of Ibi, Alhaji Abubakar Danbawo (III), disclosed that for the past 38 years we have never witnessed a disaster of this magnitude that touched everything: places of worship, houses, roads and farmlands,” he said.

He disclosed that the NEMA officers are still at camps in Danpar, Chinkai and Ibi registering and providing relief materials to the displaced people.

Meanwhile, it was gathered that areas threatened by the flood disaster in Makurdi include the newly- established Benue State University Teaching Hospital, where some structures were submerged, including the building of the state-owned transport company, Benue Links, which are within 10 kilometres radius from the river bank.

A visit to the highbrow Judge’s Quaters in the town, revealed that about 500 houses were completely submerged, while the effected families made desperate efforts to rescue some of their belonging from the flood.

Some of the victims, who spoke to journalists, lamented that the state government had done little or nothing to assist them in their plight.
According to Joseph Okpe, who claimed he lost everything in his submerged house, “the painful part of this unfortunate incident is that the state government has left us to our fate.

“I can vividly recall that when this type of thing happened in Lagos, the state governor took the President to the scene to assess the damage in order to avail victims some form of assistance, but in our case nobody cares; our so-called leaders have failed us, it is a shame,” he added as he fought back tears.

Meanwhile, reprieve came the away of some victims of flood at the weekend as NEMA moved  in relief materials to the two established camps in Wadata and Wurukum parts of Makurdi town.

It was gathered from the North Central Zone Coordinator of  NEMA, Mr. Abdulsalam Abubakar, that food  items supplied to the camps that houses over 1,000 families includes over 250 bags of 50 kilogramme rice, 50 bags of 100 kilogramme maize and 50 bags of 100 kilogramme millet.

Other items supplied the displaced persons include 50 bags of 100 kilogramme Guinea corn, 30 bags of 50 kilogramme garri and 100 cartons of noddles.

The non-food items supplied to the camps include; 1,000 pieces of nylon mats, 200 pieces of foam mattresses, 1,000 pieces of blankets 800 pieces of wrappers and guinea brocade.

Others include 100 pieces of children wears, 2,000 pieces of plastic buckets, spoons, plates, cups 50 cartons of detergent 50 cartons of bathing soap, 500 towels and 500 mosquito nets.

The NEMA coordinator stressed that the food materials were being distributed to individual families “since they’ve all opted to cook their meals themselves and this is aside other aid being extended to them by NGOs and public spirited individuals.”