Diri faults NEMA report, insists Bayelsa flood prone
By Aherhoke Okipma, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to correct the misconception that only three local government areas suffer from flooding in the state.
Diri, who stated this when officials of the agency paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Yenagoa, said the whole state is flood prone.
Represented by his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, Diri said Bayelsa occupies the lowest part of the country where water from River Niger and River Benue pass through before emptying itself into the Atlantic Ocean.
He said it was wrong of NEMA to have singled out Ogbia, Nembe and Brass as the only flood prone parts of the state.
“The truth is that the whole of Bayelsa is flood prone and must be treated as such. I can tell you that even this Government House is under threat.
Had we not built a semi dyke, you would have seen the water very close by now,” he said.
READ ALSO: NEMA takes action in the preparedness of flood
NEMA Head of Operation, Edo State Office, Dahiru Yusuf, said the team was in the state to carry out an on-the-spot assessment of possible areas of flooding in line with the predictions of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency.
He called on people of the state to be proactive by observing the warning signs of flood and relocate from flood-prone areas.
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