From Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
The Human Rights, Liberty Access, and Peace Defenders’Foundation (HURIDE), and South East Campaign for Democracy (CD) have donated food items to the flood victims at holding camp at Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The human rights’ groups donated 50 bags of rice to the victims, called on other public spirited individuals, organisations and churches to come to the aid of the displaced persons at the area.
The Executive Director of HURIDE, Dede Uzor who led other members of the groups to the IDP camp at Council headquarters called on the Federal and Anambra State Governments to stop making empty promises about the welfare of victims of flooding but should take concrete steps to help the victims in especially in Ogbaru Local Government where entire communities were submerged.
He charged federal and state governments to visit the IDP camps to see the pathetic situation of the displaced persons there, instead of making empty pronouncements.
“They should come here, see things for themselves. For two days they told us they have not eaten except the food brought to them by the members of Christ Embassy the previous night, yet we have federal and state governments. Governments should take care of them, at least to feed them” he said.
He said in other climes, governments take care of the displaced persons’ feeding, houses, schooling of their children and even resettling them but here nobody cares.
Uzor asked federal and state authorities to send their agencies, FERMA and SEMA to take care of these displaced persons, noting that a hungry man is an angry man.
The HURIDE boss said most of the displaced persons are farmers whose farmlands, crops, homes have been submerged and washed away.
Uzor said: “Somebody who abandoned his house without anything, we should expect that he should not be comfortable. It is not easy. That is why the Human Rights Defenders decided to come to assist with our widow’s mite with donations from members and stakeholders. This will go along way to alleviate their sufferings”
The chairman of Flood Relief Committee of the Ogbaru Local Government, Mr Ben Ogochukwu Nwasike, lamented the deplorable condition of the displaced persons, describing it as ” dicey and pathetic”.
He said there is no presence of government in the four camps created for Ogbaru especially that of the local government, Ochuche,and Osomala.
Nwasike appealed to both federal and state authorities to come to their aid in feeding, medical care, and post-flooding resettlement.