NEMA assists Benue flood victims with 7 trucks of relief materials

The Director General of The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Engr. Mustapha Maihaja has ordered the immediate dispatch of (7) 30 tons trucks to Markudi to assist victims of flood disaster in Benue state.

This was disclosed in a statement on Friday in Abuja and signed by NEMA’S Head Media and Public Relations, Sani Datti.

According to the statement, the order was sequel to a directive from President Muhammadu Buhari, that a reinforcement of another contingent of humanitarian officers and relief materials be sent to state to assist victims of flood disaster.

The team, headed by Director (Search and Rescue), Commodore Paul Ohemu from the Headquarters in Abuja will include a team from Benue state, officers from the North Central Zonal Office in Jos, and they have been directed to deliver the materials immediately to the affected persons in the various locations and assess the situation for further supports.

“As an emergency response, seven (7) 30 tons truck has been despatched to the state and are due to arrive Makurdi on Friday, 1st September, 2017” he said.

The Director General sympathized with the affected people and assured that NEMA would work closely with the Benue State Government in providing them with the necessary succour.

You may wish to recall that the lood disaster started on Sunday, August 27, and it affected residents of Nyiman BIPC Housing Estate, Achusa districts and many other parts of the state capital as a result of natural and man-made causes which were avoidable if the government were more prepared and the people less negligent.

According to Benue State Government about 3,000 houses were submerged in the disaster.

The Chief Press Secretary to Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, Terver Akase, in a monitored media chat agreed that the disaster has wreaked huge havoc on the state, noting that it was unexpected by the government, but added that “it was beyond human control”.

“As a government, we feel that this shouldn’t have happened but it has happened. It is a natural disaster. Many families are without homes now; many people are displaced.

“It is both natural and man-made. Water is beyond human control; it must come whether we like it or not. It is natural disaster in the sense that, it is rain. We can’t prevent rain from coming. It is man-made because, perhaps we neglected some of the things that we should have done as a people. I am not blaming Benue people. Perhaps, the government failed to do something before now. That is why it has become emergency” he said.

Myke Uzendu, Abuja