River Niger sacks 332 villages, renders 2 million homeless

Anguish, pain, desperation. These are words that best describe the condition of thousands of motorists, plying the Abuja-Lokoja Highway right now. They have been stranded as a result of the flooding of the strategic road, as the River Niger continues to overflow its banks, virtually cutting off the Northern part of the country from the South.
The flood, which has completely submerged the highway, seems to have wreaked more havoc at the Banda village end of the road, as passengers now employ the use of canoes to ferry them to the other side of the submerged road. When our correspondent visited the scene at the weekend, the highway had been turned into a huge river as vehicles remained in a long queue that stretched up to about 30 kilometres.
Passengers wore gloomy faces. Most of those that spoke with our correspondent rained curses on the federal government for not heeding the warnings of climate experts. Meanwhile, the flooding, which has eaten deep into Kogi State, has so far affected no fewer than 332 communities in nine of the 21 local government areas, rendering close to two million persons homeless. According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), about 70 per cent of Kogi State population has been so far affected. One of the senators representing the state in the National Assembly, Senator Smart Adeyemi led other national legislators from the western senatorial district to the area.
They spent several hours on Saturday inspecting the affected areas. In his entourage were Buba Jubril, member representing Lokoja/ Koto Federal Constituency, Tee Jay Yusuf, member representing Kabba/Bunu Federal Constituency and Sunday Karimi, member representing Yagba Federal Constituency. The lawmakers were forced to abandon their vehicles. Through canoes and motorbikes and sometimes employing their feet, they gained access to most of the affected areas. They went through Banda along with this reporter, meandering their way on commercial motorbikes through the crowd of men, women and vehicles.
They passed through Nataco Junction, moving through Kabawa to the Old Market area of the state capital. They also went up to Adankolo Estate where most houses have been submerged, and to Ganaja Village which has completely cut off motorists coming from the eastern part of the country and passing through Ajaokuta.
While conducting the legislators to some relief camps already provided for the victims, the zonal coordinator of NEMA, Mr. Ishaya Isa Chonoko said the agency had provided a palliative measure to cushion the plight of the victims. He said the agency has provided over 300 bags of rice and some other food items to three campsites of the victims located in Lokoja. Chonoko also said eight people lost their lives in two separate incidents when their boat capsized during an attempt to cross the river from Banda Village, some 15 kilometres to the state capital.
He gave the names of the nine local government areas affected by the flood as Lokoja, Ibaji, Kotokarfi, Idah, Bassa, Ajaokuta, Omala, Ofu and Ankpa. Addressing the victims at the Adankolo Primary School, Senator Smart Adeyemi expressed deep sympathy over the incident. He said he, along with his colleagues, would mount pressure on the federal government to do something urgent to reduce their plight.
In the interim, Adeyemi said he would, along with other federal legislators from the west, donate the sum N750, 000 cash to the three camps in Lokoja. He directed that the cash be physically given to the victims. He also gave a personal donation of N200, 000 to three physically challenged victims to enable them get a befitting accommodation in the town. Senate President, David Mark, who was in the state on Friday for the burial of his chaplain, Rev. Fr. Jerome Bello, also used the opportunity to inspect the flooded areas and to commiserate with those displaced. Mark, who stressed that it was an unavoidable natural disaster, said, however, that the hardship might have been mitigated if government had heeded the warnings of climate experts.
He promised to draw the attention of the necessary agencies to come to the aid of those displaced. He also made a personal donation of N500, 000 to the victims. Meanwhile, Kogi State Governor, Capt Idris Wada, has directed that the Saint Luke’s Primary School, Adankolo, in Lokoja Local Government area be turned into a temporary relief camp for those affected by the recent flooding.
The relief camp, the governor noted, would cater for displaced persons affected by the flood at Adankolo, Gadumo, Ganaja and Sarikinoma communities in Lokoja. Wada has also released the appropriate logistics to the State Emergency and Management Agency (SEMA) to assist in providing foodstuff, beddings, mosquito nets and a variety of other relief materials for those displaced by the flood. The governor said in a statement that he felt touched by the plight of those affected by the natural disaster.
He assured that efforts were being made in conjunction with the Federal Government on ways to mitigate their suffering. But there seems to be no hope yet for stranded passengers who keep on increasing by the day as the ever-busy Abuja-Okene Highway has remained at a standstill.