At least, 24 internally displaced women from over 30 communities in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State have reportedly been delivered of babies between January and June at the Shiroro Hydroelectric Power Station’s hospital.
The Vice Chairman, North-South Power Company Limited, Olubunmi Peters, represented by the consultant on corporate social responsibility (CSR) of the company, Abdullahi Hassan, made this known at the stakeholders’ sensitisation and awareness workshop on flood.
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He said the free medical care under the CSR for pregnant women before, during and after childbirth was necessary in view of the conditions of the IDPs.
“During the February 2022, upsurge of insurgency in the station’s host communities left many dead and thousands displaced and squatting in Government Day Secondary and staff club at the Junior Camp, Shiroro; Central Primary School, Zumba and Central Primary School, Gwada. Pregnant women, among them, have been delivered of babies in our hospital,” he said.
Peters said the power company had also assisted the displaced persons with food items that ran into millions of naira to improve their living conditions, especially those living in Hydro Electric Power facilities as IDPs.
The vice chairman said over 1, 000 IDPs had been taking refuge in the company’s facilities, adding that the company had launched the supply of farm inputs and implements to enable farmers to return to their farms to end hunger and malnutrition.
He said the Fish Farm Processing Cottage Industry established at Kawota Dangunu and Yam Processing Cottage Industry at Injita Guni have been put on hold due to persistent security challenges.
Lamenting that flooding had brought devastating effects on thousands of households, he said there was the need to sensitise residents of riverine areas on the causes and effects of floods.
He commended the federal government for approving the National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, which he said, if implemented by states and operational stakeholders, would provide resilience and effective response measures to mitigate the impact of flooding.
The Chief Operating Officer of the Shiroro Hydro Electric Power Station, Ugochukwu Chioke, explained that flooding in Niger State was caused by rainfall and not by water from the dam because it is not full.
The Director General, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Clement Eze, who was represented by John Gbadegesin, said flooding had not been properly managed, emphasising the need for legislation to effectively manage the menace.
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