Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
There was panic in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital and across coastal communities, yesterday, as flood submerged houses leaving many homeless.
It was learnt that the ravaging floods have wrecked havoc in such communities as Toru Orua, former governor Henry Seriake ‘s community, Adagbabiri, Sagbama, Tungbo, Bolu Orua, Trofani and adjoining communities in Sagbama Local Government Area where hundreds of houses have been summered.
In Yenagoa Local Government Area, communities like Biseni, Ikarama. Okordia and Zarama have been sacked amid calls from stakeholders that schools should be shut to safeguard the lives of school children in the state capital.
Daily Sun learnt that most residents of the communities displaced by the flood are seeking for Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) camps to stay till water levels come down.
Meanwhile, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has shut down seven examination centres across Bayelsa State for breach of rules and regulations in the conduct of its examination.
The closure of the seven centres means the state is left with just four centres to cater for about 24,000 candidates.
State coordinator of JAMB, Abdusalam Mohammed, disclosed this to the leadership of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) at the Ernest Sese Ikoli press centre in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital.
He said some of the examination centres were delisted for duplicating the Virtual Private Network (VPN) of their router, while others were penalised for charging unsuspecting candidates outrageous sums of money during registration.
In a related development leaders of Anegbette and Udochi, two towns worst hit by floods in South Uneme Clan of Etsako Central Local Government Area, Edo State have called for urgent government intervention to avert an imminent outbreak of epidemic among its peoples.
President of Anegbette Development Association (ADA), Emma Okolo and National President of Udochi Development Union (UDU), Abubakar Aleobua, said the havoc wreaked on riverine communities in recent weeks by flood had left thousands of people displaced from their ancestral homes.