Floods submerge farmlands across Kogi

A resident of Ibaji, Mr Linus Oche, who spoke to our reporter in a telephone interview yesterday lamented that rice and yam farms in many villages that make up Ibaji Local Government area have all been washed away in the current of the flow of water into River Niger that snakes through the area. Also, […]

A resident of Ibaji, Mr Linus Oche, who spoke to our reporter in a telephone interview yesterday lamented that rice and yam farms in many villages that make up Ibaji Local Government area have all been washed away in the current of the flow of water into River Niger that snakes through the area. Also, thousands of houses have been swallowed and destroyed in the dangerous waters.

 

Mr Oche feared that this disaster could lead to unprecedented famine in the area, if the water level continues to rise at the alarming rate it was as at weekend. Already, everywhere in Ibaji and adjoining communities had been flooded, Sunday Trust learnt.

Our reporter gathered further that the situation is not different in Idah, the ancestral home of the Igala-speaking people in Kogi East Senatorial District. There farmlands and houses have also been submerged in the torrential flood.

The Abuja – Lokoja highway, which was rendered impassable since last Friday was as at yesterday still overrun by waters, making impossible for motorists to ply on that route.  At Jamata and Banda Road on the highway, the massive flood still reigned, as articulated vehicles and trailers could not pass through that part of the highway. Our reporter gathered that travellers in cars, buses and  small vehicles  from Abuja,  had to disembark from their vehicles  in order to ferry over the flooded road through Banda village by canoe before boarding other  vehicles on the other end of the highway before they could complete their journeys through the Confluence State.

Furthermore, the Lokoja – Ajaokuta Road which had been punctured by the flood in Ganaja village was still a hopeless situation yesterday. Having been submerged for four days running, the popular Ganaja village has become an island, as canoes are being used to lift people across the flooded part. Besides, the numbers of victims at the disaster relief camp in Lokoja have kept on increasing as more and more houses have continued to be submerged and rendered inhabitable in many parts of Kogi State capital.

Meanwhile, the Kogi State Commissioner for Environment, Abdulrahaman Wuya, told Sunday Trust that nine local government have been seriously hit by the disasters, adding that the government had provided more relief materials for the victims in order to make the camps comfortable for them.

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The Commissioner disclosed that government was planning to permanently relocate those living by the bank of the river in order to avert future occurrence.

He lamented that some persons still living at the river bank had refused to move despite government’s warning, saying more water was likely to be released by next week Monday.

A 21–member presidential committee on flooding was in the State yesterday to assess the level of damage by the flood

The leader of the committee and Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), represented by Mr Charles Agbo, described the flood as the worst in the last 29 years, assuring the state of Federal Government’s support with immediate relief materials to cushion the effects of the flood.

Meanwhile, the Kogi State governor, Captain Idris Wada has appealed to the Federal Government for a special intervention to cushion the effects of flood, as the state is most affected.

The Governor made the appeal yesterday in Lokoja when he received the presidential committee on flooding.

The Governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Architect Yomi Awoniyi, disclosed that the State had taken the effects of the natural disaster serious, adding, however, that it was on top the situation, with several measures aimed at alleviating the sufferings of the people being put in place.

Captain Wada disclosed that Kogi State was the worst affected by the flooding, describing the development as worrisome, because it would be impacting negatively on the socio-economic activities of the people.

The governor called on the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to assist in controlling traffic on the busy Lokoja – Abuja highway, as the floods had already restricted movement of motorists.

Earlier, the leader of the presidential committee, Mr Agbo called on the State government to seek ways of improving its urban renewal scheme, saying it was necessary to discourage people from building houses on water channels. The Presidential committee was made up of representatives of the United Nations, NEMA, FRSC, Red Cross and other foreign agencies.

Mr Sonnallah Ezekiel, the Koton Karfe Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in Kogi, said yesterday normal traffic flow had been restored on the Abuja-Lokoja highway.

Ezekiel, who spoke in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said normal traffic flow was restored at about 6.00pm on Friday.

The gridlock had lasted for two days as a result of heavy flooding at a section of the road in Banda village of Kogi.

The unit commander said that normal traffic flow was restored with the assistance of youths from nearby villages.

Meanwhile, officials of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) arrived Lokoja on Friday evening with some relief materials for the flood victims, currently camped at Adankolo, Kabawa and Gaduma areas of Lokoja.

Mrs Florence Ogedendbe, the Executive Secretary, Kogi State Emergency Management Agency, who stated this, said that the relief materials would be distributed to the victims immediately.