Delta Government Sympathizes With Flood Victims, Pledges Swift Intervention
ASABA/Nigeria: Delta State Commissioner, Bureau for Special Duties, Hon Johnbull Edema, has sympathized with persons displaced by floods ravaging several communities in Delta State and other parts of the country.
Hon Edema expressed his sympathy when he visited communities along the coastlines of the Niger River in Oshimili South Local Government Area to assess the flood situation.
Communities visited by Hon Edema, who was accompanied by the Director, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr. Karo Ovemeso included, Oko-Anala, Oko-Amakom, Oko-Odifulu, Oko-Obiokpu, and Oko-Ogbele.
Edema observed that the situation in the communities visited called for a radical emergency response, adding that waters had overwhelmed the victims, destroying means of their livelihood.
Addressing newsmen, the commissioner recalled that the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) had earlier predicted the floods, saying it informed the proactive measures of the state government.
He stressed that the state government had put all measures in place to activate camps for the accommodation of persons temporarily displaced by the floods, explaining that arrangements were almost concluded and would begin from the Oko axis as soon as possible.
The Bureau for Special Duties Commissioner and the Co-Chairman of the 2022 Flood Committee added that he decided to assess the situation in the company of SEMA and some government officials from the community as part of measures to mitigate the effects of the floods.
He added that the state government was doing everything possible to cushion the effects on the people, even as he advised residents of flood-prone areas to move to higher grounds.
At Oko-Ogbele, one of the victims, who spoke to newsmen, Mr. Solomon Aniche, said that the natural disaster had become an annual disaster that continued to ravage the community since 2012, and pleaded with the state government to come to their aid by relocating them to safer grounds.
Among those who accompanied the commissioner on the assessment visit included some councilors of Oshimili South Local Government Council, namely Hon Kelvin Nwabueze, Hon Ifeanyi Okolobia, Hon Ikechukwu Egonu, Hon Chukwudi Uzor, and Hon Kainabi Onwuma.
