By Ogochukwu Isioma
Delta State Government, Wednesday, called on residents in low-land and flood-prone areas to relocate to higher planes in view of the impending flood, following the release of water from Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam into the Rivers Niger and Benue.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Festus Ahon, gave the warning in a statement in Asaba, saying the State Government was concerned about the lives and property of citizens living in flood-prone areas in the face of earlier warnings from the Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency, NIHSA.
According to Ahon, the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Sheriff Oborevwori has approved the setting up of a 14-man Flood Disaster Management Committee headed by the Secretary to the State Government, Dr Kingsley Emu, to mitigate the challenges expected by the impending flood.
He said the Committee is saddled with the responsibility of carrying out aggressive sensitization of citizens on the impending flood and to propose appropriate measures for the prevention and management of flooding, addressing the displacement of people and to suggest ways for the provision of relieve materials to victims.
He said: “The Delta State Government has been informed that the authorities of Lagdo Dam in Cameroon would be releasing modulated amounts of water into the River Benue and River Niger due to flooding caused by torrential rainfall.
“The Delta State Government will provide support to those displaced from their homes by the rising water level occasioned by the overflow of the River Benue and River Niger.
“Already His Excellency, Rt Hon Sheriff Oborevwori has approved the setting up of Flood Disaster Management Committee to ensure that persons displaced from their homes as a result of the impending flood are adequately catered for at various Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps nearest to them.
“We are therefore calling on affected citizens to call the following numbers- 08064137841 and 08037200696 -for government intervention in the case of flooding,” Ahon stated.
