Chairman of Ogbaru Local Government Area of Anambra State, Mr Arinze Awogu, has directed the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC) to cut supply to flood-prone areas for fear of massive electrocution.
Awogu told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Awka, the state capital, on Sunday, September 16, 2018 that most electricity installations in the areas had been submerged due to incessant rains.
He said that no fewer than 9,000 persons from 1,500 households had been displaced from their homes in Ogbaru council.
Awogu noted that there were dangers of possible health hazard as many sewage pits had been ripped open by the flood.
He described the flood situation in Ogbaru as an emergency that demands swift response from the National and Anambra State Emergency Management Agencies.
The chairman requested that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state be properly equipped for evacuation of flood victims.
“NEMA, SEMA and Red Cross officials have visited Ogbaru for on-the-spot- assessment, we are still awaiting their intervention to minimise loss of lives and property.
“The flood is having all the signs of the devastating 2012 flood and we request that IDPs camps be equipped so that the over 9,000 affected persons can move into the camps.
“We can only access people’s homes by canoe because everywhere is massively flooded, the flood comes in the night and by morning people are scampering for safety.
“There is need to sand fill some areas within the IDP camps, and at the moment no single relief material has been brought to any of the designated camps.
“The worse seem not to have been seen as we are only battling with the water released from Shiroro, Kainji and Jebba dams, the Cameroonians have not released theirs and they will do so in couple of days and when that happens, it will be a disaster for us here,” he said.
The chairman appealed to both Federal and State ministries of health to respond urgently to the health challenges posed by the flood,” he said.
