Flood has hit most parts of Makurdi, the Benue State capital, and rendered hundreds of the residents temporarily homeless.
A correspondent who went round Makurdi on Sunday, July 21, 2024, reports that worse hit areas include Achussah, Jerome Hwande Street, Ankpa quarters extension, Ankpa ward by Demekpe, Living Faith Church, Naka Road, Behind Customary Court of Appeal.
Others are Gboko Road, JS Tarka University of Agriculture Road, Nyiman Village, Wurukum Roundabout, Logo1 Akpehe Village, Ide Village and Kasho Village,
amongst others.
The disaster has not only rendered hundreds within the state capital homeless, but huge properties lost.
Flooding has over the last decade become a yearly routine, destroying properties and causing loss of lives in some cases.
These areas were among the worst hit areas of the 2017 flooding that displaced over 120,000, persons in the Benue capital, while in 2022, over 14 councils were affected.
Makurdi residents mostly experience challenges of flooding, whenever there is rainfall largely due to lack of proper and adequate drainage system and not always due to the overflow of River Benue.
At Agber Village, Mrs Hope Igbawua said that the situation was beyond their control, adding that the residents have reported the matter to relevant authorities over the years without positive response.
Igbawua said that, as a community, they couldn’t do much, saying the situation required hundreds of millions to be addressed.
“See my brother, our problem here is not the overflow of water from River Benue but lack of a proper and adequate drainage to collect water to the main drainage that was constructed by the Federal Government.
“The situation we face here is almost similar with many people in Makurdi. Not all of us are affected by the overflow of River Benue. We need drains,” she said.
The Executive Secretary (ES), Benue State Emergency Management Agency (BSEMA), Mr James Iorpuu, said they are already mapping out areas and households affected by the flood for immediate intervention.
Iorpuu said SEMA had earlier carried out massive advocacy on flood and appealed to those living along flood prone areas to evacuate to safer areas.
On his part, the Commissioner for Water Resources, Environment and Climate Change, Mr Ugwu Odoh, said comprehensive drainage design of the affected communities would be carried out while the Urban Development Board would demolish buildings blocking water channels.
The Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Mr Aondowase Kunde, said a joint memo would be submitted to the Governor for necessary actions to address the issue of flooding in the state.
By Emmanuel Antswen
