Floods Sack Residents Of 10 Local Governments Of Kogi, Gov Briefs Buhari

Governor Yahaya Bello was at the Presidential villa today, Monday to brief President Muhammadu Buhari on the havoc caused by floods to no fewer than 10  towns and villages in his state due to torrential rain that triggered floods.
He told the President that the flood forced thousands of families to leave their homes and now at the Internally Displaced camps set up by the state.
Governor Yahaha Bello who sought the intervention of the President over the issue, lamented that most parts of the states are now under water.
“As usual I came to brief Mr. President on situation report and the happenings in my state periodically. I am sure you are all aware of the flood problem that is happening all over the country and Kogi is worst hit being the confluence state, confluence of the two rivers.
“So, we are worst hit and I needed to come and present the report to him myself. Even though I sincerely appreciate Mr President for deploying relevant agencies like NEMA (National Emergency Management Agency) and all the security agencies to come to our aid.
“As I speak to you, NEMA is on their way to Lokoja to access the level of damage and we received substantial amount of relief materials so far, it is not enough. I need to present the report to him as well and also to tell him about the security of the state and how we are doing.
“We are doing very well and I thank all the security agencies who have been assisting us to make sure we curb insecurity in the state. Do these are the issues that brought me to come and explain to Mr. President.”
On what has been done to tackle the situation so far, Bello said, “We experience this periodically. 2012, we were worst hit, we are praying that the situation will not exceed that this year.
“We are normally proactive to sensitize the people and evacuate them to high ground. We have created over 33 camps in Kogi State. As I speak with you, between nine to ten local governments are under water, you can imagine the pressure on our resources.
“So, we are doing our best in collaboration with federal agencies and security agencies to make sure that we evacuate them to high grounds, IDP camps and provide security to them and relief materials including medicals.”