The recent flood disaster that is being felt in various states in Nigeria is taking an alarming dimension in Bayelsa State, according to a statement by the Ijaw Media Forum.
A statement by its National President, Elder Asu Beks, has appealed to the United Nations, the Federal Government of Nigeria and and the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA , to move in swifty to avert the ravaging calamity. Said Elder Asu Beks: “As we speak, speak most of the communities in the state are under water. Never before has flooding been so devastating in the history of Bayelsa State and the entire Niger Delta as currently being experienced. Properties worth billions of naira have been destroyed while thousands of families have been rendered homeless , as Bayelsa State have been cut off from the neighboring states of Delta, Imo and Rivers as bridges and roads have collapsed.
The statement noted that though the Bayelsa State government has doled at about N450m to ameliorate the sufferings of victims, this can hardly cope considering the enormity of the effects of the disaster which will include food, medical supplies, temporary shelters as well as rehabilitation of bridges and roads, including health facilities and schools which have been wiped away by the ravaging flood.
The Ijaw Media Forum is yet to fully assess the extent of damage as the Committee set up by Gov Douye Diri is already taking an inventory of the extent of the disaster, this is as the East West Road which links Bayelsa Sate to Rivers, Imo and Delta has been closed to traffic in the past 48 hours. ” We have not been able to account for the number of lives that may have been lost to the flood as collation is ongoing, the statement added.
The Ijaw Media Forum, regrets that no official of NEMA has visited Bayelsa state since this disaster struck and appealed to the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, to activate their Corporate Social Responsibility mandates. Elder Asu Beks commended Gov Douye Diri for his quick response by visiting the affected communities and presenting them with cash and palliatives.He called on Federal Government to intervene as quickly as possible because the LIVES OF NIGER DELTA PEOPLE MATTER.
Signed
Asu Beks
President,
Ijaw Media Forum, IMF. Yenagoa