News
Three Feared Dead As Flood Displaces Over 200,000 In Rivers
Three persons are feared dead while over 200,000 have reportedly been displaced by a rampaging flood in four local government areas of Rivers State.
The four local government areas, according to investigation, are; Abua/Odual, Ahoada West, Ahoada East and Ogba/Ebema/Ndoni.
Investigation also revealed that the flood also destroyed properties worth billions of naira, including farm lands, houses and other properties.
The Tide also learnt that some of the few internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps, particularly the ones in Mbiama, Akinima and Joinkrama 1 and 11 are already over-stretched with a large number of displaced residents.
According to investigations, communities affected by the flood in Ahoada West are; Mbiama, Joinkrama 1 and 11, Ogbogolo, Akinima and Akianiso.
The rest are; Igovia, Ikodi,Ususu, Isua, Odau and Edagberi.
Similarly, some communities in Ekpeye section of the local government, which include, Ikodu Ekpeye, Olokuma, Odiereke, Ubie Ubeta, Ula, Ubie and Ebiriba 1 and 11, are also affected.
In Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area, the entire Ndoni district is now reported to be under water.
Some communities affected in the district are Ndoni Main Town, Asi Azaga, Otikiri Isukwa, and Agwe, while in Ogba district of the LGA, residents of the entire Usomini and parts of Egi clans have been ravaged by the flood.
Communities affected in the area are, Oboburu, Obagi, Idu Osobile, Idu Obosiukwu, and Ohali.
The rest are, Obohia, Obakata, Okposi, Ugbe Uguta, Obrikom, and Umuchikere.
A resident of Idu Osobile, Ezeukwu Joeza told The Tide that his people now sleep on roof tops.
He said the incident has affected communication and movement of persons in the community.
According to him, movement from one corner of the community to the other is now done with canoe.
A resident of Mbiama, Mr. Ogbam Orugba told The Tide that he has lost all his farm lands to the flood.
Orugba said the IDP camps in the area are already congested, stressing that the camps need mosquito nets, water and food.
Speaking, Mrs Jack Miller said that women were the worst affected because they lost all their farmlands to the flood.
She said that farmers in the area were now engaged in premature harvesting of cassava.
“The women are the worst affected because they lost all their cassava to the flood” she added.
Also speaking to The Tide at Ndoni, the Onueze of Ndoni, Chief John Ugboma Obi likened the flood to that of 2012, stressing that the entire Ndoni clan has been submerged by the flood.
Reacting to the incident, the Secretary of Omoku City Council of Traditional Rulers, Chief Martins Olowu, said over 3,000 persons in Usomini clan and Omoku were now internally displaced.
According to him, 10 communities have been completely submerged by flood while 3,000 persons are now refugees in their homelands.
He also put the clan’s loses at hundreds of millions of naira.
Also reacting, the Engenni Eminent Persons Forum lamented the level of destruction caused by perennial flooding in the area.
The Chairman of the forum, Dr. Harvey Warman, told The Tide in an interview that the whole Engenni Kingdom was gone.
He also said the situation has brought untold hardship to his people.
Warman called for the dredging of the Orashi River as well as the construction of shore protection round communities in the area.
In his remarks, the Eze Egi of Ogbaland, Prof Anele Uzondu Wokoma, called for relief materials for the people.
When contacted, the South-South Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Brandon Walson, described the incident as one of the worst in the area.
He said the roads leading to some of the affected communities have been cut off by the surging water, and called on the government to come to their rescue.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.