Kogi state Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Mrs Rosemary Osikoya, on Saturday appealed to residents of the state whose houses were located in flood plains, to vacate those areas.
Osikoya told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that in spite of warning on the dangers of living in such areas, some of the inhabitants had refused to relocate
According to her, those who refused to heed to the advice are arguing that “flood is seasonal” and that it will “come and go”.
“We want to plead with everybody in flood prone areas, including businessmen and women, to move out of the area to uplands; this is the time for proactive action,” she said.
Giving statistics on damage done by flood in the state, the commissioner said so far, 79 houses were confirmed to be completely destroyed and several others damaged across the state, but added that there was no loss of lives
She said that the National Emmergency Management Agency (NEMA) assessment team arrived on Thursday, saying that assessment of damages was still ongoing.
She said that the joint team of the state government, NEMA, Red Cross and Youth groups would begin the assessment of other local government areas on Sunday.
Osikoya added that four camps had been established to keep displaced persons, but lamented that most of those affected were unwilling to patronize the camps. (NAN)
