Flood destroys 300 houses in Yobe

Over 300 houses and many farmlands have been destroyed by flood in Ngalda village, Fika LGA of Yobe State.

The town was submerged around 3:30am Thursday as a result of a surge from River Ngalda which overflowed its banks.

The state’s deputy governor, Idi Barde Gubana, who represented Governor Mai Mala Buni, visited the town to assess the situation and sympathised with the victims yesterday.

Gubana assured of government’s support for victims to rebuild their lives. He said the governor had approved a donation Of 141 bags of rice, 141 blankets, 30 jerrycans of cooking oil, 20 bags of salt and 141 pieces of wrapper to the flood victims.

He commended people of the village for absorbing the affected households in their homes. The deputy governor however warned the victims against selling what was donated to them.

The village Head of Ngalda, Alhaji Ahmadu Tijjani, said they had received warnings from communities along the river bank of an impending havoc, which prompted them to evacuate people from the affected area.

“With that proactive measure, we were able to save lives of people from the havoc and over 70 percent of them are now cohabiting with people in the village”, he said.

The Executive Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr. Goje Mohammed, said the relief materials would be available for distribution to the flood victims by 10:00 today (Saturday).

“As directed by Governor Mai Mala Buni, we will mobilise to site very early in the morning to begin distribution of the food and non food items in the community”, he said.