ECHO, Red Cross’ humanitarian interventions save our community from collapse, Kogi flood victims

A water flood ravaged community in kogi state said the humanitarian interventions of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation ( ECHO) has brought relief to the victims of ecological disaster in the area. The traditional ruler of Edegaki community in kogi local government in the state , represented by his deputy, Shaaba, (Daudu), […]

A water flood ravaged community in kogi state said the humanitarian interventions of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation ( ECHO) has brought relief to the victims of ecological disaster in the area.

The traditional ruler of Edegaki community in kogi local government in the state , represented by his deputy, Shaaba, (Daudu), Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim disclosed this on Friday while receiving the officials of ECHO, the Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on water flooding Post Distribution Monitoring (PDM) assessment tour in his area.

The community leader said the humanitarian interventions from the international organizations have helped in no small measure in reducing the impact of the 2024 flooding in the community.

“Flooding has become an annual ritual in our community since 2012 that it announced its presence.

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“The water flood has brought an untold hardships, resulting in lost of lives and property in our community, with devastating effects.

“Several Non Governmental Organizations(NGO) and individuals visited us , promising to assist the community ,but failed to keep their words.

“But ECHO came and saw our plight in November 2024, observed registration and fulfilled their promise by donating relief materials to us ,which cushioned the impact of the ensued flooding over our people in the community.

“On 13- 16th December, Red Cross officials donated 20-liter jerricans, buckets , Aquatabs (reagent for water purification) , ATM card preloaded with N77,000 to each house holds in the community.

“We are highly pleased with their assistance, as the gesture relieved each household from the nature induced yearly ravaging water flooding in the community”, said Ibrahim.

Equally, a young nursing mother, Mariam Muhammed in the community said the items, particularly the donated money from ECHO made her to deliver safely ,without complications during the flooding .

“With the money, I received the necessary medical cares, bought drugs, fed
very well, paid school fees of my children with ease and delivered safely”, she said.

Elders of the community, Negbani Ali and Amina Abdukareem , who recounted their ordeal with heavy heart during each year water flooding in their community said the Red Cross midwifed ECHO post water flood project has brought relief to the inhabitants of the community.

“Each year , during wet season, we would pack out from our individual houses to a safer place, because of ravaging river Niger water flooding, to return three months after.

“Several individuals and organisations have visited our community without fulfilling their promises. We took our fate in our hands ,since we have no where to go ,if we abandon our ancestral land.

“We are all wearing smiling face today because, the devastation to our livelihood in the 2024 flooding was watered down by the relief materials from ECHO interventions in the community”, said Elder Ali.

Addressing the beneficiaries, the team leader, Acting kogi state Secretary of the federation of Red Cross society, Abdullahi Abubakar said ECHO provided the funding ,but the project was implemented by the Nigeria Red Cross society in collaboration with the IFRC.

“This initiative is an attempt to provide immediate relief and long -term recovery support to vulnerable households affected by floods , with focus on mitigating the impact of disasters on livelihoods”, he said .

Accordingly, ECHO prompted the profiling of communities in three states in the country, kogi , Anambra and Delta to that effect.

He said the organisation reached out to several households in the communities of three local governments in the state, kogi, Lokoja and Idah during its post flood intervention Programme between December 2024 and early January 2025.

Abubakar added that the selecting factors were based on most vulnerable of the vulnerable communities , devastated by the occasioned ecological disaster.

“Profiling of benefiting community among the most vulnerable of the vulnerable was focused on elderly, sick, pregnant or lactating women, female or child headed households, and other with special needs .

“ECHO intervened in 1,100 households across the three local governments, Idah, Lokoja and Kogi local governments in kogi state. In particular, the organisation reached out to 400 households in four communities in kogi local government, including Edegaki area.

“It reached three communities,(300)households in Idah local government(300), and four communities in Lokoja local government, (400) households during the interventions”, he said .