Victims of 2012 flood disaster in Lokoja send SOS to governor

As the water levels continue to rise in Lokoja the Kogi State capital where Rivers Niger and Benue formed a confluence, the victims of 2012 flood disaster in the state have sent a Save-Our-Souls message to Governor Idris Wada as their abode is gradually being submerged.

This was coming as the State’s Deputy Governor Yomi Awoniyi asked residents living along flood prone areas of Kogi State to quickly run to higher grounds as the release of water from Jebba and Lagbo Dams have led to the rising of the waters in the River Benue and Niger.

The victims who were among beneficiaries of an estate known as Flood Victims Housing Estate built with some part of funds that accrued to the state as one of the most affected states have been finding it almost impossible to access their allocation. This is because thugs and other miscreants invaded the housing estate and forced their way into the properties illegally and have been living there.

The victims are at a lost as to the double standards by government asking them to relocate when it is not willing to give them what is supposed to be legitimately theirs having paid some fees.

It was gathered that some of the illegal occupants had openly thanked the governor during a function in Government House for giving them the estate and because the governor failed to rebuke them at the time they were threatening fire and brimstone on whoever dare to force them out except the governor.

This, a source told The Guardian might have explained the reluctance on the part of the ministry and the deputy governor office to be decisive on the matter if not how is it so difficult for a government with all the powers at its disposal to order the illegal occupants out of the facility.

The victims, who are helpless, decried the non-allocation of their 272 houses to them after running from pillar to post to see how they could access their allocation.
In a protest to the office of the Deputy Governor, Yomi Awoniyi yesterday in Lokoja, the spokesperson of the flood victims, Apasi

Tunde accused the state’s Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development of double standards, saying in the month of May this year, the ministry directed them to pay the sum of twenty thousand naira (N20, 000) as allocation fees at a Diamond Bank Account, stressing that having paid the sum they were offered allocation forms, but the ministry refused to hand over the keys of the houses to them.

Tunde added that subsequent upon that, people suspected to be politicians who the 2012 flood disaster did not affect went to the estate, force the doors opened and occupied the houses illegally.

He wondered why the ministry found it difficult to eject the illegal occupants for the real victims to take over the estate since the houses were built in their names to relocate them from the riverbank.

According to him: “We were given allocation papers since the month of May, 2015, the number of the flats allocated to me was 256. Our effort to access the property have been a stiff and brutal opposition from the illegal occupants who took over the estate, as threatened to kill them if they dare go closer to the area.
“We went to the ministry of land to see the commissioner and for the past four months, we have been going to his office but some people prevented us from seeing him. Now the illegal occupants were even bragging that it is only the state governor who can remove them from the estate.”

Also speaking one of the victims, Ibrahim Momoh who presented copies of bank teller and the allocation form to newsmen said: “Right now flood has taken over my compound at Adankolo River side where I lived with my family. We thought that the state government’s plan was to put smiles on our faces after what we passed through during the devastation, but it is like they have extorted N20, 000 from us for nothing.

“But to our dismay more than one year of the completion of the houses, the same government has been foot dragging in the area of allocating the houses to the right people in whose names the property was constructed.”

Momoh, however, appealed to the state Governor Captain Idris Wada to in his usual humane approach prevail on whoever is in charge of the estate to allocate it to the right people who are the 2012 flood victims.

Responding, the Chief of Staff to the Deputy Governor, Richard Akomode said that the issue of allocation of the post flood houses was strictly the responsibility of the Ministry of Land and Housing, assuring that government would look into their plight with a view to solving the problem.

The Guardian checks revealed that physically challenged persons, some security officers and even sex workers were among the occupants that have deprived the victims access to their houses.

After an inspection tour of the rising water recently, Awoniyi said that there was no longer hiding place for those who didn’t believe NIMET and NEMA predictions that the state would be flooded, hence he appealed to those living along the flood prone areas of the state who were expecting that the flood would not come to relocate, as the water level has risen to 9.2m.

Awoniyi said that the situation had become a reality disclosing that the flood had once again caught up with the state as the rising level of the water on a minute-by- minute bases was wearisome and creating a panicky situation.

Awoniyi used the medium to call on senior special assistants of the nine flood prone local councils areas of the state, to employ the services of town criers, traditional rulers and religious leaders and other opinion molders to appeal to people living along flood prone areas to move upland and to safe places for their dear lives.

Awoniyi assured that all concerned agencies of government had been placed on red alert for the purposes of evacuation and rescue if the need arose.

He added that the job of government would be made easier when people living in flood prone areas were proactive.
The Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency, Mrs. Alice Ogedengbe, who accompanied the deputy governor on the inspection, said that the agency was constantly monitoring the rising water level, adding that the situation as monitored that day showed that the state was once again going to experience flooding from the minute by minute monitoring.

She said that the volume of the water was occasioned by the release of water from Jebba and Lagbo Dams.
Mrs. Ogedengbe urged residents to heed government warning by moving to safe places, adding that her agency was strategising to ensure that lives and properties were protected.

On the other hand, over 2000 flood victims in Makurdi, the Benue State capital have been so far been registered and accommodated at the Ultra Modern International Market by the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

The head of information for SEMA, Peter Ipusu who made the disclosure to journalists recently, maintained that more people were trooping into the camp as a result of the continuing rising of water from the River Benue as well as continued heavy rainfall.

He said that the agency after a stakeholder’s meeting Monday had resolved with relevant ministries and agencies in the state to ensure provision of adequate water, improve on sanitary conditions and make food available for the victims.

While addressing the victims earlier, the SEMA Executive Secretary, Boniface Ortese said that the agency had distributed relief materials to registered victims and would continue to register more people in the days ahead as well as allocate them rooms.

Ortese added that if the pressure of families trooping into the camp became enduring, the agency would consider relocating some of the victims to another location.
He hinted that the registration, which commenced three days ago, was continuing with four people allotted a room based on the head of each family.