NiMet flood alert: Nasarawa Govt warns riverine communities to relocate

Nasarawa State Government has warned residents of riverine communities to relocate from flood prone areas to avert loss of lives and means of livelihoods in the event of flooding.

Mr Benjamin Akwash, Director General, Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA), gave the warning in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lafia.

According to him, the warning becomes necessary following the latest flash flood alert issued by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), which is expected to happen in 20 states, including Nasarawa.

The NiMet warning affected Sokoto, Nasarawa, Lagos, Kaduna, Zamfara, Yobe, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Jigawa, Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Benue, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Cross River.

Akwash advised residents to prioritise their safety above the long-held belief in ancestral homes and move to high ground to safeguard their lives and property.

“We are reiterating what we told them during early warning sensitisation to relocate from the flood risk areas. We are specifically appealing to riverine communities to relocate to higher ground.

“We can’t let our people gamble with their lives because we have gone round to sensitise them on early warning and it behoves on them to take it seriously.

“Natural disasters do not give a warning, date, or time. Once again, we call on people to move to the high ground, where they will be safe, and stay alive to continue with their means of livelihoods,”he said.

The NASEMA chief said the agency would soon procure speed boats and canoes, along with other safety kits to help in facilitating the evacuation of people from flood risk areas to safer ground in the event of flooding.

“Before I assumed office, the agency acquired some speed boats which were distributed to riverine communities in the four flood-prone local government areas.

“We are going to go round to inspect them to ascertain their condition.

“If they are not in good condition, we will hastily reactivate them in readiness for the alert so that by the time it happens it will not take us unaware,”he said.

Akwash, while warning residents to desist from dumping refuse in drainage and building on waterways, urged them to take precautions seriously to mitigate the impact of flooding on their lives.

NAN