Delta flood drowns blind man, 11-year-old boy, 2 others; Governor Okowa responds

macfranc007 September 20, 2018 Nigeria News today & Breaking news ▷ Read Naija news 24/7 Onyirioha Nnamdi

- Not less than four persons, alongside a blind man and an 11-year-old boy in Delta state have been drowned

- Confirming that the terrible flood overtook six local government areas in the state, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa vowed to send compensation to the affected communities

- Also, Mustapha Maihaja, the director-general of NEMA, put the casualty figure resulting from flooding in different parts of the country at 101

The serious flooding in about six local government areas in Delta state has left not less than four persons including a blind man and an 11-year-old boy drowned.

The areas in the state mostly affected by the flood are Ndokwa East, Oshimili south, Burutu, Ughelli south, Patani and Bomadi, all of which are located along the bank of the River Niger.

Punch on Wednesday, September 19, reported that the middle-aged, visually-impaired man was said to be fleeing his home ravaged by flood when the tragedy struck.

The deceased who lived around Powerline, a suburb of Asaba, allegedly drowned when the boat he was travelling with capsized.

Emma Ekube, an eyewitness who confirmed the incident when Governor Ifeanyi Okowa visited the Ogbe-Afor Primary School, Asaba, one of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps, revealed that two children of the deceased survived the incident.

Ekube, a secretary of the Powerline community, disclosed that the entire area had been overtaken by the flood from River Niger. He further said that most of the victims were not willing to evacuate the area and relocate to the camp.

He said: “A man lost his life there. The boat he was using to come out from his house to escape from the flood capsized. He was trying to come out from the water. His two children who were with him survived. The drowned man was blind and he should be in his sixties. It happened four days ago.” He disclosed that the community was also affected in the 2012 flood in the state.

Confirming the development, the incident commander of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for Delta and Anambra states, Walson Ibarakumo Brandon, disclosed that according to reports, three persons including the 11-year-old boy drowned as a result of the flood.

Brandon further said that that the 11-year-old victim drowned at Okpai in Ndokwa east local government area while the two others drowned in Asaba, Oshimili south local government area.

He revealed that to reduce the suffering of the victims, NEMA in collaboration with the Delta state government had established six IDP camps in Ozoro, Asaba, Kwale, Aradhe and Illah.

Brandon said: “The affected communities keep increasing on a daily basis but right now what we have captured are six LGAs. Some local governments are partially affected. We don’t have the figures of the communities affected because of the increasing numbers.”

Okowa, who visited some of the affected areas in Oshimili South local government areas, referred to the flood situation as terrible, adding that the state did its utmost to rescue those still trapped in some communities affected by the flood.

Concerning the incident, the Okaku of Oko Amakom, HRM Nwanodi Nwanmou, Okowa said: “This is an emergency situation, move the buses to the communities, use speedboats where necessary and comb all the impacted communities, bring out any of our persons remaining in those communities to the IDP camps.

“From what we have heard, the flood water is rising, you can see that apart from Oko Amakom, the other communities have been submerged; it is an unfortunate situation, thank God we embarked on an early awareness campaign and our people listened,” the governor stated.

“With the situation of things, it is very important that we save lives, we have deployed men and resources to other impacted communities and those communities that were affected by the flood of 2012 but have yet to be affected by this flood, we have to be proactive in this emergency situation.”

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Okowa, flanked by members of the state security council assured the community leaders that the state government would compensate them for their losses.

Also, Mustapha Maihaja, the director-general of NEMA, put the casualty figure resulting from flooding in different parts of the country at 101.

At least, 10 local government areas of Kogi state have been submerged by the floods. Maihaja said that the federal government had provided N3bn for the procurement of emergency material for the affected communities.

Meanwhile, NAIJ.com reported that an early morning rain in Lagos state on Friday, May 25, had left some areas flooded.

NAIJ.com gathered that some residents of the affected areas of the commercial city woke up to flooded streets. The areas include: Ketu, Bariga and Ojota which were all flooded as a result of the early morning downpour which lasted for several hours.

Nigeria Breaking News: Kogi Flood Sacks Residents from Their Homes | NAIJ.com TV