President Bola Tinubu has approved the immediate release of N2 billion cash for the reconstruction of all houses affected by the flood in Mokwa, Niger State.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who disclosed this during a visit to Mokwa, also said the President authorised the immediate release of 20 trucks of rice to be delivered to the victims.

However, Citizens Free Service Forum (CFSF) and Renevlyn Development Initiative (RDI) warned that the flood disaster might complicate the health conditions in Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

Assuring that Tinubu’s heart is with the people, Shettima said all the issues affecting the people would be addressed. According to him, the President has also directed that the affected bridges and drainages in Mokwa town should be fixed immediately.

Meanwhile, the Niger State Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management has corrected a gaffe by an official that the ministry delivered 6,000 trailers of rice to the victims.

The Ministry’s Director of Media and Strategy, Habibu Wushishi, stated, yesterday, that the 6,000 trailers declared by Ahmed Yumu, a commissioner, was “a slip of the tongue”, clarifying that he was meant to say 6,000 bags of rice.

In a statement yesterday, CFSF and RDI urged the state government to ensure that displaced persons got all the relief materials necessary to ameliorate their plight.

They made the call following reports that displaced families in the temporary camp in Mokwa lamented the deplorable conditions of the camps provided for them, which they describe as unfit for human habitation.

The makeshift reportedly lacks basic amenities such as clean water, toilets and medical supplies. The flood, which occurred during a heavy downpour on Thursday, May 29, claimed about 200 lives, according to official figures, and destroyed property worth millions of naira.

CFSF and RDI stated: “Passing the buck is very worrisome. In an ideal situation, what we should be hearing is the reprimand of people in authority who failed to act when the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) warned that Niger was a high-risk state in its prediction of rain patterns for 2025.”

Executive Director of RDI, Philip Jakpor said: “Niger government cannot be absolved from the fallout of the flood in Mokwa because we suspect there is more to the volume of water that we saw in amateur videos circulating online. Does it involve a dam as some claim or something else? It is the responsibility of the state government to either substantiate or debunk the reports.

“It is becoming evident that disaster capitalists are benefiting from the floods that occur every year due to their reactive approach, which seems to be centred only around sharing palliatives.”

The Executive Director of CFSF, Sani Baba, said that the magnitude of the disaster in Mokwa is very disturbing and could have been prevented because NIMET had warned, giving the state government enough time to plan.

“We do not also trust the casualty number the state government is peddling because local sources say it is far higher. We are worried because last year when the Alau Dam collapsed, we had anticipated that other states would be proactive, But with what happened in Mokwa town, it is evident that most states still treat the issue of climate change and preparedness to address it with levity.”