At least 361 persons have been displaced across 23 communities in two local government areas in Nasarawa State, the state’s top disaster management official, Mr Zachary Allumaga, has disclosed.
Mr Allumaga is the executive secretary of the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA).
In an interview with journalists on Thursday in Lafia, he said the figure covered the last week of August and mid-September, warning that the statistics of displaced persons could rise to between 800 and one million by early October as the rain intensifies.
The agency’s data covered two Toto and Nasarawa local government areas which were worst hit by flood disasters this season.
Allumaga said apart from the two local government areas, councils such as Doma and Awe have also experienced severe flooding with debilitating consequences.
He noted that Lafia, Obi, Karu and Akwanga local government areas are also flashpoints.
Just Wednesday, the chairman of the Toto local government area, Mr Aliyu Abdullahi Tashas, raised an alarm that 17 communities in the council have again been submerged following two days of the torrential downpour.
He said the food washed away farms, infrastructure and property worth millions of naira while calling for the intervention of both federal and state governments.
NASEMA’s executive secretary said the situation could worsen between September the first quarter of September and October going by the Nigerian Metrological Agency’s prediction, which put Nasarawa among the high-risk states that will experience intense flooding within the period.
He said the agency has since activated its disaster management mechanism across the local government areas designated as the red zone, with search and rescue teams on 24-hour surveillance.
According to him, the agency has also intensified sensitisation and enlightenment on the need for those in the riverine areas to relocate to upland, while also providing relief materials to cushion the suffering of those so far displaced.
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Flood displaces 361 persons in two Nasarawa LGAs, says NASEMA
and then