About 10 riverine villages were ravaged by flood in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State on Sunday, forcing the locals to seek refuge in neighbouring Kwara State.
Abdullahi Adamu Kpashafu, one of the affected victims, told WikkiTimes that many villages surrounding Jebba were trapped by the menace. Jebba is a few kilometres away from Kainji Dam in Kwara.
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Kpashafu explained that the flooding is not alien to many locals, “but it seems more disastrous this year.”
Kpashafu believes that some ravaged villagers do not opt for relocation because of the flooding benefit.
“Flooding comes with fishes,” he told WikkiTimes.
Although, the government in 2021 wanted to relocate the villages to safer places, but the dwellers refused, according to Kpashafu.
Another victim, Usman Mohammed Sallah, said the recent flooding began three weeks ago but in a mild manner until Sunday when it wreaked havoc.
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Sallah, in his nervous tone, said the disasters were never compared to previous experiences.
“Our properties, such as farm produce, clothes, mattress and other valuable items were washed away by the flood”, he said. “Although, no human casualties.”
Sallah said it was easy for the communities to rescue their vulnerable populations using canoes.
“No one has died from the incident, yet,” he said. “But since the residents of the affected communities are farmers and used to swimming, we use canoes to take women and children to the safest areas.”
Many villages, according to him are taking refuge in different parts of Kwara. “Some of them are now IDP In Ogudu village in Kwara State,” he said.
“Some have gone to Gugu village while many went to Tsonga and other areas in the state,” he added.
He pleaded with the Niger State Government and other relevant stakeholders to come to their rescue.
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Other affected include communities include, Dzagun, Tada Maliki, Ekpegi, Gutako, Ketso, Wuchi, Kpachita, Poto and Chegama
When contacted, the spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), Ibrahim Hussain, told our reporter to come over to NSEMA head office in Minna, the state capital.
“I have stopped talking to journalists on the phone but come to our office tomorrow,” he said.
