25 Riverine Communities Along Bank of River Niger Submerged in Edo
By Towncriernews
No fewer than 25 communities living along the bank of the River Niger have been submerged in flood in Edo State following the release of water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroun.
Affected communities along the bank of the River Nigerzz are Etsako East, Etsako Central and Esan South East.
Speaking with journalists, the Desk Officer, Esan South East Local Government Area in charge of Relief Material and Distribution, Ojimah Christopher, said 25 communities have been submerged in flood.
Ojimah who double as the Local Government Secretary, Emergency Committee, also said the Internally Displaced Camp in the local government have already been filled by displaced persons.
According to him, there are some communities, especially Ifeku, that have been completely submerged and their property and livestock swept away.
A resident of the affected area, John Odaku, said their farm crops such as yam, Cassava, groundnut among others, have been submerged by flood while farm produce already harvested were swept away.
He said they could not take their belongings due to the rising level of the flood, which, according to him, is more than that of last year.
“We couldn’t savage our crops and farm produce and livestock as they were swept away by the ravaging flood”
He called on the State and Federal Government to come to their aids, noting that the local government has been shouldering their responsibility.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency has charged the people to relocate to IDP camps to avoid casualties.
Speaking on the development, the Head of NEMA, Benin Operation office, Dahiru Yusuf, said the agency has been monitoring the flood situation in collaboration with state and local governments and other stakeholders.
According to him, “Three local governments of Esan South East, Etsako East and Etsako Central. Some communities have been displaced already.”
He said they have visited all the flood prone local governments to assess their level of preparedness, noting that most of the IDP camps in the various local government are ready.
