….As Agency Says 258 Communities Under Threat
Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
The Kogi State Executive Secretary of State Emergency Management Agency, Alh. Mouktar Atima, has raised the concern over upsurge of flood waters in Ibaji Local Government Area in the eastern senatorial district of the state.
Atima who raised the concern, warned communities along the river bank to immediately relocate to safer grounds.
The SEMA boss who led the emergency response and critical team on an advocacy visit to the Commissioner of Health, Dr. Adams Abdullazeez, said the state was no longer safe owing to rising levels of the waters in the rivers Niger and Benue.
He said according to charts of experts and managers of various dams in the country, excessive water has begun pouring into the rivers Niger and Benue and would cause an overflow of the river bank.
He said 258 communities in eight local government areas of the state have been marked as flood prone areas while 42 internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps have been constructed to take care of those to be displaced while an emergency operations centre have been opened.
According to him, five communities in Ibaji council including Ota, Ofogbo Itidma and Owara in Kotonkarfi Local Government Area were the worst hit.
He said the ministry of health was key to disaster management even as he intimated the commissioner of the rising levels of the Rivers Niger and Benue stressing that in the next 72 hours, the state will enter a difficult period.
The SEMA boss eulogized the commissioner for his proactive measures and support given to the agency, saying it was responsible for zero casualty last year.
The health commissioner, Dr. Adams Adeiza Abdullazeez, said the ministry was not only for healthcare services but also for human services, saying the ministry was adequately prepared to tackle or mitigate any disaster in the state.
Dr. Abdullazeez said the ministry has already begun fumigation of all the 42 IDPs in preparation for the floods saying the ministry has fully mobilised all its personnel and materials to attend to any flood victims.
He said his ministry was aware that there may be an outbreak of diseases or epidemic in the various IDPs and stressed that they were fully prepared.
He lauded Governor Usman Ododo for his commitment to health issues and stressed that due to his prompt intervention in last year’s flooding there was no life lost.