Residents of Makurdi, the Benue State Capital have expressed worry over the lack of preparedness for flooding in the state capital.
A resident of Wurukum area of the state capital, Erdoo Helen, lamented that flooding has been a yearly incident in the area and has led to the destruction of properties worth millions.
“In the past years, flooding has destroyed so many properties some persons have not been able to recover, and this year we have not seen any effort to show preparedness by the government.
“The government needs to set up a special ad-hoc committee to help in cleaning drainages, for now, nothing has been done so all we are doing now is waiting to see what will happen when the rains intensify,” Erdoo said
Also, a civil servant who simply identified as Tersoo bemoaned the lack of sanitation activities by the Sanitation Agency in the state.
“The sanitation agency has been doing nothing. All you see them do is packing of waste on the main road and sanctioning people for not clearing the drainage in their respective houses or shops,” he said.
He urged the government, as a matter of urgency, to act in a way that will stop the annual occurrence of flooding in the state
“The government should order the cleaning of all drainage systems in the state capital. I think that is the only thing that will help in constraining the yearly incident,” he said.
In January, Director General of Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET), Professor Mansur Matazu, while speaking at an event in Abuja, warned of impending flooding in the country due to climate change activities.
“With the increase in climate change activities, there will be more floods. Climate change is due to increasing temperature and increased temperature means the atmosphere will be pregnant and contain more water in the form of vapour.
“This means more rain and the rain will come in high intensity within a short duration. This gives more volume of water within a limited time. This is what triggers floods after rainfall in cities and riverine areas, especially during July-September,” he had said.
