Stakeholders warn of flooding in three states 

Stakeholders in flood management have urged early preparedness in tackling the problems of flooding in three states of Benue, Plateau and Kaduna.

The Senior Programme Co-ordinator, Disaster Management and Peace Building, Christian Aid, Bamidele Fagbite, spoke yesterday at the end of a two-day national stakeholders’ meeting in Abuja.

He said the project, aimed at strengthening disaster preparedness in Nigeria so as to improve early warning and early response systems in those states, is a two-year intervention programme focused on 27 rural locations across the nine local councils of Benue, Plateau and Kaduna states.

Fagbite said over 40,500 beneficiaries in the three states earmarked would benefit from the intervention programme due to incessant natural hazards/flooding disasters, adding that the locations and states were selected because of their vulnerability to multiple natural hazards, including flooding disaster, and unmet needs in preparedness and response.

He added that the most common and recurring natural disaster across target states was revealed to be flooding, with frequency, severity and spread of floods increasing over the last six years.

Meanwhile, in his presentation, Director, Engineering, Nigeria Hydrological Agency, Mr. Clement Nzeh, said 35 states are prone to flood in the latest 2018 report released by its agency, adding that inadequate funding is a major factor that is hindering the circulation of the report to the states.