Thousands of families in Bayelsa, Rivers and Delta States have fled their homes as devastating floods took over their homes and farmlands.
The victims are also faced by the high cost of evacuating their homes in view of the high cost of doing and the and harsh economic realities.
Biseni, a community in the northern part of Bayelsa State has been completely submerged by the invading flood for over two weeks now. Residents of the community have since evacuated to higher grounds and some faraway communities.
Most of the victims have found refuge the bridge and road that lead to the town, where they have made makeshift camps. The schools in the town have shut down and pupils sent home. Also affected were health centres and worship centres.
Bison Bayelsa State
Virtually all the communities from Kilama to Perebiri-Ayahkumo, Egbebiri and Tuburu communities, have been evacuated. The water has been pouring in from Rivers Niger, Nun and Forcados. The people have sent a passionate appeal to the Federal and Bayelsa State governments to come to their rescue.
The Ibedaowei of Biseni clan, King David Obuma, lamented that the people now feel abandoned as the floods have led to hunger and destitution. He appealed to government help them in their situation. H said government should also consider sandfilling and constructing embankment in some places in the community to avert future occurrence.
Also, King Akile Peter Debekeme, the Pere of Biseni lamented the neglect by oil with oil wells and gas facilities the community. He called for government’s intervention through the provision of relief materials and construction of internally displaced persons camps in the area.
Two of the displaced persons, Oweifa Godday and Ere Konugha, who were taking refuge at a temporary shelter on a bridge said they were they had been separated from their families.
Deputy Executive Director of the advocacy group, Environmental Defenders Network, Chief Alagoa Morris who took journalists on a visit to Biseni described the situation at Biseni people as pathetic. He called intervention from government and interventionist agencies.
Morris challenged the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to come to the aid of the people. He demanded that Bayelsa State government deployed the N3 billion received from the Federal Government to support victims to cushion the sufferings face by flood victims
Apart from Biseni, communities in Epie Kingdom in Yenagoa, Sampou in Kolokuma-Opokuma, Sagbama and Ogbia are also affected by the flood disaster in Bayelsa State
The flood has also invaded Odi Town in Kolokuma Opokuma Local Government Area. Pastor Jennifer Tor, who spoke to National Point, said though the current flood was not as devastating as that of 2022, it has completely submerged the farms in the area, forcing farmers to harvest their crops in a hurry.
“We have harvested all our cassava,” Tor said. She, however, said the residents were not considering fleeing the town as an option because of the high cost of doing so. “I don’t have money to go any. I don’t have money for emergency expenses. Now you would need to buy at N2,500 the wood that we bought two years ago at N800. Reinforcing the house so that flood does not pull down part of the house will cost between N150,000 and N200,000.
“We are fervenlty hoping that the flood will go away soon because we have entered November, when normally the flood begins to recede,” he said.
She said up till now they had not seen any government presence with the regard to their situation. She said this year’s saving grace is the embankment that was built by the state government after he last flooding. “It has helped to hold back the water,” she said.
At Agudama and Akenpai in Yenagoa Local Government Area, flood water has submerged homes as residents evacuate and move to higher grounds.
Dr. Philip Maxwell, who spoke to National Point described the situation as pathetic as he said there was no camp provided by Bayelsa State government for victims to take temporary shelter.
“There is flood everywhere. Whose home will you go to. From the road to my house, the water is up to my waist. In my house, the water is at the knee level,” Dr. Maxwell said.
Why didn’t government respond to the warning given earlier in the year by emergency agencies? Maxwell said, ” Government thought the flood would not come again. They were thinking that the water would not come again because the time it used to come has passed. It just caught us unawares,” he said.
He lamented that the situation in the villages was worse. “It is very critical. The people are stranded.”
Similarly, several communities along the banks of River Niger in Ndokwa East and Patani Local Government Areas of Delta State have been submerged. Some of the affected communities are Abala-Obodo, Abala-Uno, Abala-Oshimili, Onya, Ase, Asaba-Ase, Ibedeni, Umuoru, and Adia-Obiaka. Others are Uduophori and Patani, the headquarters of Patani Local Government Area.
The rise in the water level has been traced to the heavy rains and release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.
The floods have not only submerged homes, they destroyed crops in the farms in the affected communities.
Mr. Clinton Omokaro from one of the communities said, “The flood is stable now, but the access road leading to the community between Aviara and Araya is submerged.
“No vehicle, not even motorcycle can get in, so we are taking an alternative route that is costlier, to get in. Getting commodities from other places has become very difficult for our people.”
Ifeanyi Isaac Ogbolu, a youth leader, said the flood was beyond control and appealed to government to take urgent steps to support the victims.
A flood victim at Uduophori, Mr. Ebruphiyo Akpibere, who moved his family into a shop owned by his wife in a higher part of town, said some victims had elevated platforms in their homes to keep their properties before moving out to stay with friends and relatives in higher parts of town and the community’s secondary school.
“The flood is frustrating and stressful; for a man and a family to reside in a shop is not an easy affair, it goes with a lot of stress.”
Speaking on the situation, the Chief Press Secretary to Delta State Governor, Mr. Festus Ahon, said, “We are not going to neglect flood victims. We are prepared to shelter them, to provide for them in terms of feeding, in terms of medicals, even those that are of school age, there is also provision for them to learn, so that the period they will be in IDP camps, they will not miss out academically.
“Our team, the flood management team, in collaboration with SEMA and NEMA, are going round the communities along the coastal line to sensitize them on the need to move out of the areas to higher ground, and preferably for those who have nowhere else to go to, to move to the camps.”
Ahon said government has also sent food relief to some victims. “That is to tell you the level of our preparedness to ensure that flood victims will not suffer. As many as are ready to move to the Internally Displaced Persons’ camps, we are ready to accommodate them,” he said.
In Rivers State, the flood has sacked Okwuzi, Aggah and other communities in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area. It has also devastated communities in Mbiama, Joinkarama, Okarki, Okparake, Engenni, Ikoki in Ahoada West Local Government Area. Also affected are several communities in Abua-Odual and Ahoada Local Government Areas.
However the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Prof. Ngozi Odu, who is the Chairman of the Chairman of the Rivers State Flood Prevention and Management Committee, said the Rivers State Government says it was concerned about the welfare of the victims and affected communities in the state.
Odu, stated this while speaking at the Sensitization of Orashi Region on Flood Prevention and Management at the Faculty of Humanities Hall, Rivers State University Ahoada campus.
She noted that the State Government was desirous to tackle the critical issues of recurring floods occasioned by dam releases upstream and the overflow of rivers, stressing that the Orashi Region is the Epicenter of the Flood challenge in the State.
The Deputy Governor disclosed that although the Flood Management Committee oversees about 18 Local Government Areas identified by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency(NIMET) that are prone to flooding the Orashi Region, comprising Ahoada East, Ahoada West, Abua Odual, and Ogba Egbema Ndoni Local Government Areas, are the most devastated, stressing that when the floods hit, it hits hardest there.
According to the Deputy Governor, addressing the most critical area first is tantamount to treating the heart of the problem, adding that if we can manage the Flood in the Orashi Region it would be better equipped to handle it in other areas.
Representative of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Chidi Ogundu, commended the State Government for taking proactive measures towards mitigating flood disasters in the State while calling on affected communities to begin to identify higher and safer grounds to move into and set up Community Response Plan.
Also speaking, the Chairman of Ahoada East Local Government Area, Hon. Chibudom Ezu, expressed gratitude to the Governor for the timely intervention in tackling the challenges of flooding in the area, by setting up the Rivers State flood prevention and management committee, an action which according to him shows that the Governor identifies with the challenges of his people.
The Committee later on presented relief materials to the Internally Displaced Persons Camp in Akinima, Headquarters of Ahoada West Local Government Area.
At the occasion, Prof. Odu said, “What we are doing is to show care. We are here to help you manage the situation you find yourselves in. We have taken note of the issues people raised, we have taken note of short-term and long-term effects, and want to believe that action will be taken.
The Chairman of Ahoada West local Government Area, Hon. Iyekor Ikporo, thanked the State Government for its swift response in alleviating the sufferings of the people, while assuring them that the relief materials would get to the exact victims.
