Declare flooding national emergency, Diri, others tell FG

myDelsu News Staff 2

248 3 minutes read

For the sake of Niger Delta, the PFN has advocated for the river to be dredged. Delta claims eight lives.

The governor of Bayelsa State, Douye Diri, has requested that the federal government declare a national emergency due to the widespread flooding that has already devastated the city of Yenagoa and other areas around the country.

The decision was made by Diri at a security council meeting held in Government House, Yenagoa. He said the conference was held to analyze the situation and find methods to lessen the disaster’s impact through collaboration with security agencies.

The governor was cited yesterday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, regretting the severity of the floods this year, saying it was worse than in 2012.

“This year’s flooding has topped that of 2012, which is the highest we have observed so far,” the governor was quoted as saying in the statement. This is now a serious threat to national security.

The governor further mentioned that the state was blocked off from the neighboring states of Rivers and Delta due to the effects of floods on communities, residences, and roads.

While universities around the country are reopening now that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike has ended, classes at our state institution are still canceled since the sole road leading there has been broken into three pieces.

Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), South-South Zone, is concerned about the floods and has encouraged the federal and state governments to unclog clogged water channels and dredge the River Niger as soon as possible.

Apostle Zilly Aggrey, Vice President of PFN, South-South, lamented the widespread destruction caused by the floods, highlighting in especially the entire isolation of the East-West road.

The pastor, who is also the church’s founder and general overseer, issued the call yesterday in Port Harcourt while announcing the cancellation of the church’s 30th anniversary celebration owing to flood damage.
He stated he wouldn’t party hard while communities were being displaced by the flood and people were dying.

Keep in mind that the flood reportedly took the lives of six people and toppled the governments of four Rivers. Aggrey suggested dredging the River Niger as a means to reduce flooding. Why can’t we acquire big equipment to clear out the vegetation that’s blocking most of the water channel in our waterways?

MEANWHILE, eight people in Delta State’s Ndokwa East and Isoko councils have reportedly perished due to flooding. Ndokwa East Council had the most deaths (6 so far), followed by Isoko North and South Councils (1 each), for a grand total of 8.

In a statement released over the weekend, Ndokwa East Council Chairman Juan Amacheee Governor said, “We have reported six deaths in the council with the entire territories inundated beyond what anyone would have anticipated.” This was communicated through Councilman Barth Ozah.

Fidelis Egugbo, Special Assistant, Media to Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, has also called on the Federal Government to do something about the annual flood that destroys homes and farms across the country.

Yesterday, while visiting flood damage in villages, Egugbo issued the call while joined by Chief Ifeanyi Obi, the former chairman of the Delta State Council of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW). He pointed out that most people would have to give up farming if the annual flood wasn’t stopped.

This is even more catastrophic than the 2012 flood. It’s a shame the federal government hasn’t figured out how to stop the flooding, because it’s having a negative impact on the country’s farmers and, ultimately, its ability to produce enough food.

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