From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja, Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Niger Delta caucus in the House of Representatives has called for the immediate resignation of the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq, for allegedly downplaying the effect of the recent flooding in Bayelsa State.
The caucus, at a press briefing, accused Farouq of relying on an “armchair statistician” in Abuja, rather than visiting the state to get a first hand information on the flood disaster.
The lawmakers, in a statement read by Fred Agbedi, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the minister, in the event that she refused to resign ‘honourably.’
This is as the Bayelsa State Emergency Management Agency (BYSEMA) announced that the flooding has killed 96 people across the eight local government areas.
Bayelsans including the state government, political leaders and traditional rulers had taken a swipe at Hajia Farouq over what they described as “unscientific assessment” which stated that Bayelsa was not among the 10 most impacted states in Nigeria.
However, in an official data released by BYSEMA, its Chairman, Walman Samuel Igrubia, disclosed that 96 people were killed by the flood.
A breakdown indicated that Yenagoa Local Government has the highest number of 26 deaths, followed by Ekeremor with 18 deaths, while Ogbia has 14 deaths. Sagbama and Kolokuma/ Opokuma had 11 deaths each, while Southern Ijaw and Nembe had eight and seven deaths respectively and Brass recorded a lone death.
He said 1,344,014 persons have so far been directly affected by the flood in the state.
Igrubia, who said collation of data from the field were still ongoing, said as at Friday, November 4, 1,210,183 people have been displaced while farmlands, school buildings, health structures and other facilities were impacted.
He also stated that the flooding affected several communities across the entire 8 Local Government Areas of the State.
Igrubia, made it clear that the preliminary reports and data available to SEMA and other agencies indicated that Bayelsa State remained the most flood impacted among states in the country.
•64 officers affected –NIS
The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) said 64 officers were affected in the state.
Comptroller, Bayelsa Command, Mr. Sunday James, who took journalists to the Command headquarters at Bayelsa Palm Road, sacked by the flood, said as a security outfit on essential duty, none of its officers affected who were mainly Bayelsans were permitted to be absent from work.
He disclosed that a few days before the flood came in full force, he had directed the rescue of documents and assets of the NIS and authorised its relocation to a temporary office located at Okaka Estate.
According to him, based on a report presented by the state Command, the NIS headquarters would soon commence massive infrastructural uplift for the headquarters of the Bayelsa Command located in a flood prone area.
In an impromptu visit to the Passport Office, Road Safety road, James warned desk officers against undue delay of Nigerians, declaring that he would not tolerate people being delayed without any cogent reason.
Speaking in an interview at the temporary office, he said the Comptroller-General of NIS, Isah Jere Idris, has directed the amphibious training of officers from the state Command at Ahoada on swimming skills and rescue operations tactics.
Meanwhile, the Command has questioned a French national at the Bayelsa Toll Gate over her activities in the state.
NIS had raised eyebrows when the French journalist claimed she was in the entourage of the United Nations Resident and Humanitarian coordinator who has since departed Bayelsa State.
Sources at the NIS command said the French journalist and two Nigerians with her provided details of activities in Bayelsa State. One of the Nigerians, Mr. Godson Jim- Dorgu of the MacArthur Foundation confirmed the encounter with the NIS and commended its Comptroller, Sunday James, for a professional handling of the matter.
Meanwhile Governor Douye Diri has set up a Directorate of Flood and Erosion Control to help in the mitigation of the natural disaster in the state.
Diri who announced this during the presentation of the 2023 Appropriation Budget tagged: “Budget of Sustainable Reconstruction” to the House of Assembly said the establishment of the Directorate was one of the measures to control flooding.