The Nasarawa State Government plans to relocate victims of recent flooding in Doma Local Government Area residing in flood-prone riverine communities to higher ground.
The affected communities are Olegokemi, Obendo, Achebe, Olegopa, Oguatema, Ijiwo, Taliga, Otia, Otiageke, Otiagiso, Olegambulu and Anaguga.
Nearly two weeks now, the flood has displaced over 4,000 people with two decades across 11 communities, many victims remain in neighbouring upland settlements without adequate food, clean water and medical supplies.
The Director-General of the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Barrister Ben Akwash, said government was planning to establish safer settlements for riverine communities, beginning with Umasha in Toto Local Government Area.
The proposed settlements, according to him, is being championed by the Ministry of Environment, would include basic amenities and storage facilities for valuables and foodstuffs.
Construction is expected to begin after the rainy season.
“We have concluded arrangements. We’re only waiting for the rains to recede. By the next rainy season, God willing, it will be a different ball game,” Akwash said.
On the delay in delivering relief materials, Akwash said the government had procured supplies but was struggling to transport them because roads to the affected communities were flooded.
He said the route through Doma was difficult to navigate, while the alternative through Makurdi, Benue State, required boats to reach some communities.
“We are looking to use several Hilux vehicles. By tomorrow, we would have taken the relief materials,” he assured.
Akwash added that NSEMA’s relief stocks had been depleted earlier in the year following interventions in other flood-affected areas.
Akwash confirmed that no official camp had been established, explaining that the disaster occurred suddenly. He said displaced residents were sheltering in places of worship, schools and host communities.
Victims of the latest disaster say their immediate needs remain unmet as they struggle to rebuild their lives.
Mr Ngbede said 34 other widows in the community had lost their livelihoods, while eight houses were completely washed away.
In Ijiwo, 60-year-old widow Mrs Emun Agaba Enah said she had lost her livestock, chickens and farmlands, leaving her unable to provide for her children and six grandchildren.
“Where do you think I should run to with six grandchildren and four of my own children?” she asked.
Seventy-year-old Esther Achi, who could not flee when the flood reached Otariga, described the disaster as one of the worst in the area.
“I’m old enough to die. Some of us can no longer run from this,” she said, pointing to the partly collapsed house of one of her sons.
Emmanuel Ogiri of Olegopa, who was displaced with six family members, said victims were still waiting for promised assistance despite visits by government officials, non-governmental organisations and emergency agencies.
“They only said they would come back, but they are yet to return,” he said.
Ogiri said he had returned to rebuild two of the four family houses destroyed by the flood. He added that schools and public infrastructure across the affected communities had also suffered damage.
He said residents needed alternative land and government assistance to relocate safely.
“If today government is able to allocate a parcel of land with support in terms of items that will enable us to put up a shelter upland, why not?” he asked.
Raymond Achi of Obendo community said residents had repeatedly appealed for relocation but had received no response.
The lawmaker representing Doma South in the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Musa Ibrahim Abubakar, urged the government to provide immediate relief, warning that shortages of clean water, food and medical supplies could trigger cholera and other waterborne diseases.
“The people have lost their source of livelihood; the source of their drinking water is gone. Farmlands have been washed away, and all the drainages are silted,” he said.
The Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Danladi Jatau, urged the government to provide relief materials and deploy health workers to prevent disease outbreaks. He also called for collaboration with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to secure additional assistance.
Jatau directed the Assembly’s Committees on Environment and Humanitarian Services to visit the affected communities and submit their findings within one week.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NiHSA), Umar Mohammed attributed flooding in the Benue River Basin to intense or prolonged rainfall, poor drainage, improper waste disposal and unauthorised construction.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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