Olanrewaju Lawal, Birnin Kebbi
The Kebbi State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) has distributed relief materials to rainstorm victims and 900 people displaced by bandits in the State.
Kebbi SEMA Executive Chairman Alhaji Sani Dododo, who confirmed this while distributing the items comprises of rice, building materials, grains and bags of cement to the rainstorm victims in Birnin Kebbi on Thursday said all the victims were identified by their district heads.
It could be recalled that on June 19, the windstorm had destroyed no fewer than 300 households at Badariya area, Mobile Police Barrack, Bayan-Kara and parts of Gesse III in Birnin Kebbi, Kwasara, Ka’oje and Tuga in Bagudu LGA.
Other areas affected include Tundi and Birnin Yauri in Yauri LGA and Saminaji in Koko/Besse LGA as well as some communities in Bunza LGA.
‘We are here in Birnin Kebbi LGA to sympathise with the victims of the rainstorm that destroyed many properties and livestock in Birnin Kebbi Area,’ he said.
‘We have been going round to other Local Government Areas, and here we are in Birnin Kebbi. We are here not to pay the 638 victims of the storm but to show our concern and give relief to them in order to cushion the effect of the rainstorm disaster.
‘The relief materials comprise 60 bags of rice, 60 bags of millet, 60 bags of maize, 300 bags of paddy rice and 600 bags of cement, among others,’ he said.
He added that the agency recently distributed the relief materials to 900 IDPs in Danko/Wasagu and Zuru LGAs who were dislodged by suspected bandits.
‘The IDPs are victims of banditry who lost their parents and husbands as well as livestock to bandits in Dabai of Zuru LGA and Mairere and Bena, in Danko/Wasagu LGA.
‘We are going to sponsor and send their children to schools from primary to secondary as a relief in order to cushion the effect of their loses,’ he said
Dododo also recalled that the seasonal rainfall prediction (SRP) by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) predicted that heavy rainfall might result in flooding and other social disequilibria in some parts of the State and the country.
‘The agency will not relent in its effort to ensure the protection of peoples lives and property. We are going to collaborate with all the stakeholders in the State to sensitise the public to take precautionary measures against disasters, especially flood and windstorm, and their management, in both the rural and urban areas,’ he said.
He appealed to residents in riverine areas to relocate to upland, and the general public to ensure the evacuation of wastes from waterways and drains within and around their environment.