Aleast two persons have lost their lives with many residents displaced as a result of flooding within eighteen communities in Ekye local council in Nasarawa state.
The flooding submerged several areas, destroying homes, farmlands and other sources of livelihood with many facing a humanitarian emergency.
Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Nawoni Aboki at a press briefing in Lafia attributes the flooding to the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in neighbouring Cameroon and urged residents of affected communities to relocate from flood-prone areas to safer locations.
He, however, hinted that the state government had deployed its humanitarian agency to the affected communities, adding that the compilation of a comprehensive report on the ugly incident to submit to the government for necessary action was currently going.
The information commissioner of information explained that the government would provide relief materials and other interventions to the victims of the flood to cushion the effects of the flood disaster after submission of the report.
He revealed that 18 communities were affected by the flood, two lives were lost, and houses, crops, farmlands, properties, including animals and economic trees, were destroyed during the flood.
Dr. Aboki asserted that dozens of displaced persons affected by the flood were currently taking refuge at high lands, including Agyema, Akpanaja and other places, to avoid further loss of life.
He cautioned residents in the flooded communities not to return to the area in a hurry, but to wait to be sure that no more water would be released from the Lagdo dam before they would return.
Dr. Aboki urged residents in the low-lying areas to relocate to higher lands to avert being caught in the perennial flood, urging them to always heed warnings from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMET, on impending floods.
His warns, ” Upon receiving the information, the executive governor directed the secretary of the state emergency agency to visit all the affected communities and all the sites where the displaced persons are staying and to submit the report to government for necessary action
” We always talk about government; we must also talk about the people. People must leave those low-lying areas and move to higher land. Anytime there is flooding, people are always affected.
“Our people must listen to our advice from government, from NEMA and from NiMET, and they must move to higher land; that is the only way we can save our property, save our crops, save human lives that have continued to be a perennial thing in those areas.”
He revealed that he personally visited some of the displaced persons affected by the flood, accompanied by the chairman of Doma Local Government Area, to register his heart felt sympathy with them and promised the victims of the government’s immediate intervention to cushion the effects of the flood.
Umar Muhammed
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