Yesterday, the Nigerian Red Cross, which is providing humanitarian aid in Rivers State’s Abua/Odual Council, bemoaned the situation’s deterioration as a result of the state’s ongoing flooding.
Inegewari Kepele, the head of the Red Cross, claimed that 12 communities were trapped and 28 communities in the council’s seven districts had been submerged.
Red Cross, he claimed, faces logistical difficulties and begged interventionist organisations to send boats to rescue trapped people.
According to him, flooding started early in the month and worsened with no hope of ending soon.
“Since October 1, the people of Abua started to experience flooding. In Abua, we have seven districts: Abua Central, Emogan Axis, Ochoba Axis Odual Axis, Emego-Kubo, among others. Emego-Kubo district is made up of 12 communities and all the communities have been submerged. If you go to Emogan Axis, there are eight communities and they are also flooded, and the people cannot cross to the other side and do not have any camp, for now.
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“28 communities are affected in Abua/Odual council and many people are still trapped. Although the council is doing something to rescue them, we need more help from government.
“The challenge we have now is how to evacuate people trapped in the communities. Aside from that, we have challenge in the area of accommodation. We do not have logistics, like boats, to rescue people trapped in Odual. People in Emogan axis are just trying to cluster themselves somewhere that is a bit high,” he said.
He noted that the council has recorded only one death, adding that the state governor and council chairman have been trying to ensure the impact of the flood is not overwhelming, just as he insisted that more needs to be done, urgently.
“So far, there are no much casualties except one in Eminiboku. I will say the governor has done well.”
Chairman of Taskforce on Flood Management, Dr. George Nwaeke, assured Internally Displaced Persons of government commitment to evacuating them, noting that more boats will be deployed to affected communities. He presented the camps with food items and cash.
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