The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has advised Edo State residents living on the back of River Niger and other flood-prone areas to relocate to higher ground to avoid disaster.
NEMA Head of Operation, Benin Office, Dahiru Yusuf, made the call on Monday in Benin during a stakeholders’ meeting of the agency, organised in collaboration with Edo State Emergency Management Agency.
He said the event was to meet stakeholders in emergency management to ascertain the level of preparedness in flood-prone local governments in order to ensure that the 2023 response is better than last year’s response.
“We advised the people to relocate from the flood areas because when it comes it would be devastating.
“But, we are finding it difficult to get them to move, lots of them don’t want to go to the camp, they don’t want to leave their ancestral home to a safer place where the government would provide the necessary facilities pending when the flood subsides.
“They should ensure that drainages are cleared and not blocked, adhere to the building plan, because we have discovered some of the floods, especially not in the river bank is as a result of one construction or the other” he advised.
Yusuf said they are working to ensure that the state IDP camp is in good shape, fumigated, and put the necessary amenities in place to ensure that it is habitable for victims in case of a flood.
He, however, said the agency has already commenced sensitizing the local emergency committee on what to do to mitigate the effect of flood.
On his part, the Commissioner for Public Security and Safety, Kingsley Uwagbale said the state is working towards a five-year plan to mitigate flood in the state.
“When it comes to flood we are looking at mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. We are going to visit the flood-prone areas to ascertain whether the plan we have on the ground is in the proper place”.
While assuring residents living in flood-prone areas of the government’s support, he said they have done many things on the IDP camp to make it habitable and ready for flood victims.
Earlier, the Head, Edo State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA), Helen Obayuwana, said the government is worried as NIMET prediction has added three additional local governments to areas prone to flood in the state.
She stated that adequate drainage systems, reinforced river banks, and well-maintained canals can help channel water safely and prevent catastrophic flooding.
While noting that flood preparedness, mitigation and response are not the sole responsibility of governments and emergency response services, she charged individuals and communities to take steps to safely guide their homes and communities by raising awareness and participating in community initiatives.
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