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At least 25 communities along the River Niger in Edo State have been submerged by flooding, resulting from water released from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. This incident has left many residents stranded and in dire need of assistance as local authorities mobilize to provide relief efforts.
The flooding has primarily impacted communities in Etsako East, Etsako Central, and Esan South East, where many families have been forced to evacuate.
Local government officials are mobilizing resources to assist those in these areas who are experiencing significant hardships.
Christopher Ojimah, serving as the Desk Officer of Relief Materials and Distribution for Esan South East Local Government, confirmed the flooding of the communities on Monday. He highlighted the local government’s commitment to delivering relief supplies to those impacted by this natural disaster.
In his capacity as both the Local Government Secretary of the Emergency Committee and Desk Officer for Relief Materials, Ojimah confirmed that the internally displaced persons camp in the local government is already filled to capacity with evacuees. He called for swift action to secure more resources and temporary shelters for those affected.
He said, “The release of water from the Lagdo Dam has caused flooding in these three local government areas, with their houses submerged and residents having to abandon their houses.
“There are some communities, especially, Ifeku, is completely submerged, and their properties have livestock swept away. The IDP camp in Esan South East is already filled with residents.”
A resident of the affected area, John Odaku, said their farmlands had been submerged, and they were not salvaging their crops and livestock.
He said, “Our crops, such as yam, cassava, and groundnut, among others, have been submerged by flood while farm produce already harvested were swept away.
“We could not take our belongings due to the rising level of the flood, which is more than that what we experienced last year.
“We couldn’t salvage our crops and farm produce and livestock as they were swept away by the ravaging flood.”
He called on the date and Federal Government to come to their aid, noting that the local government has been shouldering the responsibility alone.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency has charged the people to relocate to IDP camps to avoid casualties.
Speaking on the development, the NEMA Head of Benin operation office, Dahiru Yusuf, said the agency has been monitoring the flood situation in collaboration with state and local governments and other stakeholders.