Members of the Edegaki community of Kogi Local Government, Kogi State, have expressed their appreciation to the Red Cross Society Lokoja for the relief support accorded to them during and after the 2024 flood that submerged their area.
The entire community was evacuated to Ohono, Akpanya, and Koto for one and a half months when the flooding lasted.
The leader of the community, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim, gave the commendation while receiving a team from the Red Cross Lokoja, who came on an impact assessment visit to the community yesterday.
Speaking on behalf of the community, which vowed never to accept any move to have them relocated from the flooding-prone area, Ibrahimsaid, “The Red Cross has been our saving grace in the 2024 flood disaster. If not for their support, the impact of the disaster would have been worse.
“I stand on behalf of the entire 100 households that make up the community to say we are more than grateful for all the relief support we received from the Red Cross.
“Each household received N77,000 to fund our agricultural activities, water buckets, and 20-litre jerrycans for water storage.
“These items have helped us recover faster from the flood disaster.”
Ibrahim, however, called on the Red Cross to increase their humanitarian efforts to the community, particularly in the reconstruction of the only access road that links the community to Murtala Muhammed Bridge.
In his remarks, the acting secretary of the Nigerian Red Cross, Kogi State, Abubakar Abdullahi, said, “We decided to visit the community again under the 2024 Integrated Flood Response Project to carry out an assessment on the extent to which members of the community are recovering from the 2024 flooding.”
“And we are glad to see that the people have made adequate use of our interventions and have fully recovered.”
The community, however, reiterated their resolve not to relocate from the area due to the perennial flooding.
“We welcome your relief materials and all the humanitarian gestures from the Red Cross, but we maintain our resolve not to relocate anywhere. We shall remain on our ancestral land come what may.
