Flood: Kogi communities told to relocate

Our Reporter September 27, 2012  

 

---

From ISAAC ANUMIHE, Abuja
Owing to the continued rise in water level, the Federal Government yesterday ordered residents of Ibaji communities in Kogi State to relocate to Anambra State.
Sounding the warning in Kogi State yesterday after presenting additional relief materials to the victims of flood in the state, the Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Muhammad Sani-Sidi, noted that rescuers have continued to evacuate displaced people from rooftops and trees in the area.
Sani-Sidi said: “It is now necessary to call on people living in Ibaji to either move to Idah Local Government of the state or to closer communities in Anambra State.”
Sani-Sidi, who presented relief materials to the Governor of Kogi State, Idris Wada, for onward distribution to the affected victims, also said that NEMA was using big boats and recruited the services of local canoe owners for the evacuation exercise.
The NEMA DG added that the agency was working with the Nigerian Red Cross Society to explore further assistance for the affected persons, adding: “This necessitated a request for the deployment of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society’s global tool: Field Assessment and Coordination Team. A three-man team has already been mobilised by the Geneva Headquarters and the team is expected shortly in Nigeria for the possible assistance to the victims of the floods.”
In a statement, the Head, Public Relations of the agency, Mallam Yushau Shuaib, said Wada, who was also flown by the NEMA team in a rescue helicopter for aerial survey of the scenes of the flood, stated that the situation was not only devastating but alarming by the magnitude of the damage to the communities.
While commending the promptness and expertise of the NEMA team in the rescue efforts and relief materials distribution, Wada pleaded for more support and assistance by the relevant bodies to the state.
Meanwhile, more teams from NEMA regional offices were moving to some South Eastern states where massive flooding was being experienced, especially in Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra and Oguta and Ohaji-Egbema Local Governments of Imo State.

SOURCE: 27 September 2012.