Flood wreaks havoc in Makurdi

Flood has hit most parts of Makurdi, the Benue Capital and rendered hundreds of the residents temporarily homeless, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports.

A correspondent of the agency, who went around Makurdi on Sunday reports that worse hit areas included Achussah, Jerome Hwande Street, Ankpa Quarters extension, Ankpa ward by Demekpe, Living Faith Church, Naka Road, and Behind Customary Court of Appeal.

Others are Gboko Road, JS Tarka University of Agriculture Road, Nyiman Village, Wurukum roundabout, Logo1 Akpehe Village, Ide Village and Kasho Village, amongst others.

NAN reports that flooding had over the last decade become a yearly routine, destroying properties and causing loss of lives in some cases.

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These areas were among the worst hit areas of the 2017 flooding that displaced over 120,000 persons in the Benue capital, while in 2022, over 14 councils were affected.

At Agber Village, Mrs Hope Igbawua told NAN that the situation was beyond their control, adding that the residents have reported the matter to relevant authorities over the years without a positive response.

Igbawua said that as a community, they couldn’t do much, saying the situation required hundreds of millions to be addressed.

“See my brother, our problem here is not the overflow of water from River Benue but lack of a proper and adequate drainage to collect water to the main drainage that was constructed by the Federal Government.

“The situation we face here is almost similar with many people in Makurdi. Not all of us are affected by the overflow of River Benue. We need drains,” she said.

The Executive Secretary (ES), Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), Mr James Iorpuu, said the agency was already mapping out areas and households affected by the flood for immediate intervention.

Iorpuu said SEMA had earlier carried out massive advocacy on flood and appealed to those living along flood-prone areas to evacuate to safer areas.

On his part, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Mr Ugwu Odoh, said comprehensive drainage design of the affected communities would be carried out while the Urban Development Board would demolish buildings blocking water channels.

The Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Mr Aondowase Kunde, said a joint memo would be submitted to the Governor for necessary actions to address the issue of flooding in the State. (NAN)