Flood: Hundreds of pregnant women, nursing mothers, others stranded in states –ActionAid
The ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has said that several thousands of children and another hundreds of pregnant women and nursing mothers are stranded in the 12 states ravaged by the rising flood. The Country Director of AAN, Mrs. Ene Obi, told newsmen on Friday in Abuja that there are also hundreds of ‘very hard to reach […]
The ActionAid Nigeria (AAN) has said that several thousands of children and another hundreds of pregnant women and nursing mothers are stranded in the 12 states ravaged by the rising flood.
The Country Director of AAN, Mrs. Ene Obi, told newsmen on Friday in Abuja that there are also hundreds of ‘very hard to reach areas’ that the organisation visited where people are still on rooftops of submerged houses for days and are in dire need of food and other relief materials.
Obi said that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and some of the state emergency agencies are trying their best but that they are overwhelmed by the devastation of the flooding, hence the urgent need by the Federal Government to deploy the Navy, with boats and other equipment to assist in rescue and relief efforts.
This is as the acting Director of Programme of AAN, Hajiya Suwaiba Yakubu-Jubrin; the Director, Organizational Development Mrs. Funmilayo Oyefusi and Head of Finance Oluwole Elegbede, urged politicians to spare fractions of their electoral and campaign spending for those affected and that the 2019 elections should not make the needy to be relegated.
According to her, the severity of the flood, in the last few years has been high along the Niger-Benue through up to its Deltaic mouth where the water is emptied into the Atlantic Ocean and that the torrential rainfall between August and September 2018 caused displacement, deaths, destruction and disruption of livelihoods in many states across the country killing over 150 persons and affected another three million persons across the country.
“Not discarding the efforts of government and the National and State Emergency Management Agency and other MDA’s, we believe that more proactive actions could have been taken and more can be done to make Nigeria safer for the citizens,” she said.
According to her, the AAN Fast Response Team was deployed to Kogi, Delta and Benue states in partnership with the state emergency management agencies and ActionAid Local Rights Programme Partners, Environmental and Rural Mediation Centre (Envirumedic) in Delta State, the Participation Initiative for Behavioural Change in Development (PIBCID), in Kogi State and also with Benue State NGO Network (BENGONET).
She said that over 100 communities have been submerged in Kogi State, over 1000 households displaced with children exposed to diseases due to poor living conditions, pregnant women delivering in dirty environments among others.
She said some of the flood affected Local Government Areas, like Ibaji has not received any relief material due to their “hard to reach” location.
She said that based on statistics from Kogi SEMA, Ibaji has nine affected communities with about 702 breastfeeding mothers, 492 pregnant women, 30 Persons Living with Disability and 15,439 children.
“In Delta State assessment was conducted in the three worst hit councils of Ndokwa East, Ndowa West and Ughelli South where about 2500 displaced persons are currently in IDP camps and another 4000 is estimated to remain in their communities. Transportation had increased from N500 to N1500. In Ophorigbala, Esaba and Otutuama communities of Ughelli South, asides the urgent need for food and non-food items, the major challenge includes flooded pit toilets, which breeds mosquitoes and the community warns of an epidemic loom if nothing is done quickly.
“Since January 2018, Benue State government established IDP camps in six locations for the 60,000 people displaced by the farmer and herders clash. According to Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BENSEMA), there are 266 breastfeeding mothers,75 pregnant women, 86 persons living with disabilities, 395 children under the aged of five and 436 women of reproductive age who still lacks food, toiletries, mattress and new born friendly kits like clothing and diapers,” obi said.
She however said the organisation reached several hundreds of those affected with a resilience kit containing food and non-food items worth millions of naira and therefore urged Nigerians to held fellow citizens in need.
She also urged the triad of federal, state and local government to develop a more strategic response plan and take proactive measures to reduce the devastating effect of the disasters on households and farmlands.
She said, “The strategic emergency response plan of government on combating flooding should include relocation of people to upland, construction of bridges and waterway for overflow, dredging and clearing of drainages. The Nigeria Navy should also prioritize search and rescue of persons who cannot afford the fares of boat peddlers and are still stuck in the communities like Abuator in Delta State.
“Government should ensure that there is adequate security to enable the survivors return to their communities and live in dignify and peace, while certifying that the records of current IDPs at the camp are reviewed to ascertain the true data of those in the camp. The affected communities across states are predominantly farmers who have lost their livelihoods to the flood; we call on government to develop a robust plan to support affected persons to rebuild their livelihoods.”
The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Maihaja, had said that flooding following heavy rains that caused the Rivers Niger and Benue to overflow has worst hit Benue, Kogi, Niger, Kwara, Anambra, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Adamawa, Kwara, Kebbi and Taraba states.