NEMA warns Adamawa, Taraba communities on flooding

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has advised people living along the banks of River Niger and River Benue in Adamawa and Taraba states to relocate to avert flooding.
NEMA’s Head of Operations in the two states, Abbani Garki, gave the warning while distributing livelihood support items to the 2018 flood victims in Yola South Local Government Area of the state.

Garki said the agency has received the 2019 rainfall data analysis from the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMET) which indicates that 30 states of the federation would experience flooding.

According to him, NEMA alongside its sister agencies in the states are monitoring and working closely in case of emergency, declaring that “we are advising communities, especially those along the two major rivers in Benue and Niger, to be on alert because there is possibility of flooding this year as predicted by NiMET.

“State governments should also advise their communities to make sure that all drainage channels are regularly cleared and refuse dumps evacuated.”

He said that no fewer than 3, 000 victims of the 2018 flooding in Adamawa state have been assisted with livelihood items by the federal government from January till date.

Garki said the intervention items distributed include food and non-food items, such as building materials, consumables, sewing and grinding machines and water pump facilities.

He advised the beneficiaries to use the items for the purpose for which they were meant to bring succour to them.

A beneficiary, Mrs. Aisha Jidda, from Modire Ward thanked the federal government for its gesture and promised that the items would be used for the purpose for which they were supplied.