Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has declared Kogi, Niger, Anambra and Delta states as national disaster following flooding that has ravaged the four states in the last month.
Director General of the agency, Engr. Mustapha Maihaja, made the declaration, in Lokoja, on Wednesday, shortly after he assessed the level of devastation in some parts of Kogi State.
He stated that other eight flood-prone states were placed on the Agency’s watch list depending the outcome of the flood situation.
Maihaja stated that based on the recent information received from Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency, the water level has reached 11.06 metres as at Monday, September 17 , saying the water level caused a lot of devastation and consequences in Kogi, Niger, Delta and Anambra states.
“The recent forecast by NIMET indicated that the rain falls will continue. With this investigation all indices for flooding has already manifested with Kainji and Jebba dams spilling excess water continually.
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“It is also worthy to note that the Africa Regional Climate Centre in Niamey, the capital of Niger Republic has also forecast the above average precipitation, it is likely that most northern states in Nigeria will experience precipitation from August to November 2018.
Maihaja also disclosed that the current situations in the four states with the growing consequences and devastation requires the cooperation of international organisations to ameliorate the suffering of the flood victims.
He pointed out that with the current flood devastation in the country, NEMA will forward a memo to the president for a lasting solution in line with the relevant provision of the National Disaster Response Plan to tackle the menace permanently.
The DG noted that the agency’s situation room domicile at the headquarters and the five territorial emergency centres had been activated for effective search and rescue operations.
