Flood on Tuesday morning destroyed about 50 houses in Bachaka village of Gudu Local Government Area (LGA) in Sokoto State.
The State House of Assembly member representing Gudu LGA, Sani Yakubu, told news men in Sokoto on Wednesday that the disaster was as a result of several hours of heavy downpour.
According to Yakubu, “The disaster affected about 300 families, leaving them hopelessly displaced and squatting in schools and with relatives. No life was lost but domestic wares and foodstuffs were destroyed.”
The lawmaker, who said that he had visited the affected village, said that the victims were in immediate need of food items as well as building materials to enable them raise the destroyed houses.
While calling for the relocation of the village to a safe place in order to avoid recurrence of the incidence, Yakubu said that he had so far donated a total sum of N1.1 million, between Tuesday and Wednesday.
Appealing to Gudu LGA and the Sokoto State Government to provide immediate assistance to cushion the effects of the disaster before assessment of the entire incident was made, Yakubu also called on the State and National Emergency Management Agencies (SEMA/NEMA) to hasten the assessment process in order to quicken the assistance.
Head of Sokoto NEMA office, Muhammad Sulaiman, told EnviroNews that although he had not received any report in that regard, “we will confirm from SEMA and take appropriate action.”
However, the Director-General of SEMA, Alhaji Hassan Maccido, told EnviroNews that the agency would dispatch a team of experts to assess the disaster. “We will assess the extent of damage and recommend to the state government the forms of assistance to give to the victims.”
By Abdallah el-Kurebe
