Flooding: NEMA Gives Alert To Kogi Residents In Flood Prone Areas To Relocate

As the Federal Government has given an assurance to mitigate the effects of the looming flooding across the country, Kogi residents in flood prone areas have been advised to relocate to high ground for their safety.

Already government has commenced preparation of Internally Displaced People’s Camps (IDPs) for those that are likely to be affected in the event of the predicted flooding.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has therefore, alerted people living in flood proned areas in Kogi State to move to higher planes to avoid the possible flood that may accompany heavy rains in the coming weeks as predicted.

The agency’s Head of Abuja Area Operation Office in Kogi, Mr Bitrus Samuel, gave the advice in Lokoja during a sensitisation campaign for people living in flood proned communities in the state.

He asked the people to start packing their personal effects as the country would soon start experiencing heavy rainfall as predicted by the relevant government agencies.

Samuel urged them to form themselves into groups to respond to the flood and identify nearby highlands that they can relocate to in case of flood to minimise loss of lives and property.

He warned the people against resisting relocation in their own interest, saying that camps were already being prepared for those of them that would be displaced.

Also speaking at the event, Mr Julius Mejiyan, the Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Mangement Agency (SEMA), said that nine local government areas in the state were proned to flood disaster.

He identified the local government areas as Lokoja, Kogi Bassa, Ibaji, Ajaokuta, Omala, Olamaboro, Ofu and Idah saying that the sensitisation campaign would be taken to the nooks and crannies of the council areas.

Mejiyan also said that internally displaced people’s (IDP) camps were also being prepared in readiness for the floods.

He added that the state government was not leaving anything to chance as far as the impending flood disaster was concerned.

Leaders of the various communities visited pledged to support the exercise by spreading the message to other residents in their communities.

The Head of Sarki Noma, Alhaji Bala Namama and the Madaki of Achanyi Adankolo , Malam Sidi Ali, said that flood disaster had become a yearly occurrence in their communities .

They pleaded with federal and state governments to come to their aid by constructing drainage channels to reduce the impact of the flood on their communities.

The House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on investigation of Federal Government abandoned properties across the nation says the value of such properties has been put at N230 billion.

The Chairman of the committee, Ademorin Kuye, said this on Tuesday at the committee’s inauguration in Abuja.

“The figure is a conservative estimation carried out by the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) on the abandoned properties located in Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu, Port Harcourt, Kano, Kaduna and other cities,” he said.

He recalled that on March 12, the House of Representatives in unison considered a motion on the subject and consequently constituted a 17-member Ad-Hoc committee.

“The committee is to investigate the use and current status of such properties and to report its findings to the house.

“At the said session, the house expressed concern that many of such properties located in almost all the states of the federation were abandoned, especially after the Federal Government’s hurried relocation to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.

“Many of these properties are now serving as safe havens for criminals. Some are illegally occupied, fraudulently transferred and wholesomely abandoned.

“It is on record that some of the properties are currently being used by individuals and corporate bodies without remitting any revenue, while their managers, in name, have not accounted for the revenue yield.

“The exercise is pursuant to Sections 88 and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 which empowers the House to investigate and expose corruption and waste,” he said.

Kuye promised that the House of Representatives would take necessary legislative steps to address national economic challenges, poverty, infrastructure decline, misuse of resources, revenue leakage, corruption and other ills.

He said that the committee would leverage on the opportunity to serve as a watershed to cushion the harsh economic realities by sourcing the most needed funds.

“We intend to consciously ascertain the existence and use of such Federal Government properties across the country with a view to facilitating re-investment end maximisation of their use.

“In executing the exercise, the committee will take into consideration the relevant provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended,” he said.

While inaugurating the committee, Femi Gbajabiamila, the Speaker, said that the projects were visual manifestations of the failure to make plans and effectively and efficiently execute them.

This, he said, had hampered the nation’s growth and development for many years.

“The ad-hoc committee we have come to inaugurate today now has the duty to account for these investments and come up with a plan that puts these assets to good use in the interest of all our citizens,” he said.

Source: NAN

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Abdulrahman Obaje

Prince Abdulrahman Obaje is a Media and ICT Consultant, Journalist, online marketer, social media strategist, Mathematician and Computer Scientist based in Abuja, Nigeria. He is the Founder and the Publisher of The Informavores!. You can reach me on +234 805 939 5252 or send i-witness report directly to me on news@informavores.com.ng.

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