Flood: Government to demolish over 2,500 houses

THE Benue State government may commence demolition of hundreds of houses in Makurdi as soon as the State Executive Council gives approval.

Sunday Tribune learnt that over 2,600 houses would be pulled down in an effort to end the perennial flood disasters in the state.

Investigation by Sunday Tribune revealed that the coastal nature of the state, after which River Benue that has tributaries in  Katsina Ala and  Buruku, was named, makes it susceptible to flooding, especially as the outlets for the river have been blocked by man-made structures.

General Manager, Benue State Urban Development Board, Mr. Richard Agwa, who spoke with Sunday Tribune, acknowledged that channels that water ought to flow through had been blocked by hundreds of houses built on the channels.

He said there are “over 2600 houses built across drainage and water channels,” disclosing that as part of the efforts to end the incessant flooding in the state, these “houses  have been marked for demolition.”

Agwa said he had sent a memorandum to the State Executive Council for approval to commence the demolition exercise adding that flood would continue to ravage the capital city unless the houses built on the water channels are demolished.

Also speaking with Sunday Tribune, Mr Terse Ayuwa, an environmentalist based in Makurdi, said the only solution to flooding in the state, especially the state capital, was that “any time there is downpour which normally happens around late August to early September is to open up the water channels to allow free flow of water, particularly in urban centres like Makurdi.”

Ayuwa acknowledged that the water channels had been blocked by structures, a mistake which must be corrected.

This year’s flood, it was reliably gathered, was made worse as a result of the illegal structures along coastal areas.

It will be recalled that in 2012, the state witnessed devastating flood which destroyed property worth several billions  of naira and thousands of people displaced.

Unlike in 2012 when the flood was caused by the combination of excess rainfall and release of water from Ladjo  dam in Cameroon, this year’s flood was as a result of  prolonged rainfall and blockage of channels that the water would have flowed through.