The Managing Director, Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa, has said that seven people from different parts of Kwara State have died in different flood incidents this year.
Yelwa said this in Patigi, while flagging off the distribution of relief materials to victims of the recent flood in the state said to be worth N50 million.
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He said 1,300 households and 2,800 people were affected by the flood, which also submerged houses and large hectares of farmland in Patigi.
The MD decried the refusal of residents of the riverine areas and victims of previous floods to relocate to IDP camps provided by the federal government.
He said HYPPADEC was considering sponsoring a bill for a law that will prohibit people from residing close to riverine areas to avert recurring losses of lives and property.
According to him, “although no life was lost to the latest flood in Patigi, we have received reports of about seven people who have lost their lives in the state to flood.
“Due to climate change, the effect of the flood in the community this year is far worse than what we experienced decades ago. 1,200 households with 2,800 persons were affected,” Yelwa, who was represented by the commission’s director, Environment and Community Development, Mahmud Muhammed, noted.
He warned those leaving in the riverine communities to vacate the place, noting that the worst disaster was waiting to happen.
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