Exactly ten years after a massive flood submerged several communities in Kogi State, the waters have returned to wreak more havoc. The flood has sacked people from their houses and destroyed invaluable properties including crops and farmlands.
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| Flood in Kogi State |
Lokoja, the State capital and Confluence of Rivers Niger and Benue on Saturday night saw the rivers overflowing their banks. By Sunday morning not a few people have been forced out of their houses to lodge with sympathetic friends or relations. Those not lucky to have such privileged relations relocate to refugee camps.
As of Tuesday, a government source revealed that about fifty rooms have been prepared in earmarked schools to house some 10,000 victims. Camps are being opened for Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs to mitigate the effects of the disaster.
The most affected communities are in Lokoja, Bassa, Kotonkarffe, Ajaokuta, Ibaji, Ofu and Idah Local Government Areas. Victims of the flood have been counting their losses.
Some victims were seen clutching their water-soaked bags and walking briskly in a drizzling rainfall on Tuesday. Apart from the torrential downpour of a fortnight, the waters are emissions from the overfilled Ladgo Water Reservoir in far away Cameroon.
The flood has taken over a portion of a major road in Kabawa and another in Ganaja village, two major interstate connections. Many travellers were forced to ply the pothole-ridden Zone 8 / Crusher Road to access or exit the ever-busy and equally threatened Lokoja /Abuja highway.
Motorists to or from the Eastern part of the country were forced to endure long agonising hours in Ganaja village. Scores of trailers have been stranded on both sides of the road, with the drivers enduring many nights of immobility.
Some travellers are luckier. The desperate commuters disembark and join among several canoes on brisk business, across the flooded plains. When they cross to the other side, they promptly join another vehicle in continuation of their journey.
Commissioner for Environment in the State, Victor Omofaiye who along with others inspected facilities at St Paul Primary School, Adankolo IDP Camp called for help from the Federal government, individuals and Non-Government Organizations, and NGOs. He said the flood was massive noting that the government was yet to ascertain the extent of damage or loss.
He said a necessary awareness campaign was earlier carried out to warn people living in flood-prone areas to relocate. He regretted that most of them ignored the warnings.
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| Flood in Kogi State |
“For now, we cannot ascertain the level of destruction, but I want to let you know that it is massive. Farm lands have been submerged and properties worth millions of Naira destroyed.”
Flood Alert
The News reports that recently, the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA issued a flood alert to thirteen states. They are Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Niger, Nasarawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Cross River, Rivers, and Bayelsa. Its Director General Mustapha Ahmed reiterated the warning at an emergency technical meeting in Abuja on Monday.
“Based on our communication with the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, the Lagdo dam operators in the Republic of Cameroon commenced the release of excess water from the reservoir by September 13.
“We are aware that the released water cascades down to Nigeria through River Benue and its tributaries, thereby inundating communities that have already been impacted by heavy precipitation.
“The released water complicates the situation further downstream as Nigeria’s inland reservoirs, including Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro, are also expected to overflow between now and October ending, according to Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.”
Water From Abroad
Spillage from the Cameroonian Dam is no longer strange in Nigeria. In 2012 it accounted for the death of more than ten persons and the hospitalization of several others.
Nigeria is located downstream of eight other countries that make up the Niger Basin, namely Guinea Conakry, Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Benin Republic, Chad and Cameroon.
