Agony as flood destroys 300 houses, farms in Yobe

No fewer than 300 houses and several farmlands have been destroyed by flood in Ngalda, Yobe State.

The floods, which followed days of persistent rainfall, also destroyed schools and livestock.

Idi Gubana, the Deputy Governor of the state, who visited the community on Friday, expressed shock at the magnitude of destruction and promised government’s support for the victims.

He said that Governor Mai Mala Buni, who is presently in Saudi Arabia, had directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to provide food, clothes, mattresses and blankets to the victims.

“The agency will provide 140 bags of rice, 141 blankets, 141 pieces of women wrappers, five bales of men clothes, mosquito nets, buckets, among others,” he said.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN, the governor assured the victims that it would find a permanent solution to the yearly flood in the area.

“The acting Secretary to the State Government will liaise with the Ministry of Environment and SEMA to work towards relocating people in the affected area to a more secured abode,” he said.

He commended the community for hosting most of the affected families in their houses.

Also, the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, has commiserated with the government and people of the state over the flood.

Senator Lawan,  in a statement made available by his Special Adviser on Media, Ola Awoniyi, “shares the grief of all those affected by the disaster, as well as in earlier ones in other places like Galadimawa in Abuja, which claimed the life of a senior civil servant and the others affected in another flood in Lokoja, Kogi State.”

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He commended for promptly responding to the disaster by directing the State Environmental Management Agency to provide relief materials for the victims.

Lawan who is also presently in Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj, urged the relevant agencies of government at the federal level, development partners and other kind-hearted Nigerians, to complement the efforts of the state and local governments in bringing succour to the flood victims.

He also called on government at all levels to deploy resources at their disposal in tackling the recurrent menace of flood and other environmental disasters.

He equally assured the victims of the concern of the ninth National Assembly over their plight, promising that the National Assembly will be at the forefront of safeguarding Nigerians against destructive environmental elements.”