Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) urged local government communities in southern Nigeria affected by flooding to relocate to safe higher grounds.
This comes as Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu has said that Nigeria will need the sum of $14 billion for the introduction of river training to control recurrent flooding of rivers Niger and Benue, so as to tackle disasters and humanitarian crises
NEMA, Zonal Coordinator for the South-South, Godwin Tepikor disclosed this in a statement on Monday in Port Harcourt.
What he said:
Tepikor revealed that NEMA’s zonal office carried out an assessment of the flood-predicted areas and revealed that several communities in the zone have all been submerged by flooding. The areas include Akinfa, Amasoma, and Ayama in Bayelsa and Anibucha, Okuzi, Aga, Ugede, and Aniekpe in Rivers State.
He warned that the result of the flooding will destroy farmlands, fish ponds, pig farms, crops, and sources of drinking water, stating that “As we observed, the economic trees and sources of livelihood in the areas were affected, so it is expected that government at all levels should come together and ensure that they assist the people.
“On our part, the agency has put measures in place within the 36 states of the federation.
“So we expect the states in the flood predicted area, especially the South-South and those communities that have started experiencing flood to be on top of their activities.
“This is to mitigate the impact of the flood on the people,” he said.
“NEMA expects that the states involved should have been prepared by mapping out safe grounds in collaboration with the agency and also have their relief supplies ready to assist the affected communities.
“The agency will continue to monitor the rising water level across the predicted states in the zone” he added.
What you should know
- Nairametrics reported earlier that Minister of Water Resources, Mr. Suleiman Adamu said that Nigeria will need the sum of $14 billion for the introduction of river training to control recurrent flooding of rivers Niger and Benue, so as to tackle disasters and humanitarian crises
- He, however, said that developing a master plan for river training in Nigeria is the first step to using river training as a solution to flooding.
- Nairametrics had earlier reported flooding in several states like Kogi, Adamawa, Jigawa, Niger, and Benue states, with 300 people dead and over 600,000 people affected by floods in various parts of the country, as of mid-September 2022.
