23 Deaths Recorded as Flood Displaces 12,856 Households in Benue

George Okoh in Makurdi

The recent flood that ravaged most parts of Benue State has recorded a total of 23 persons dead with 12,856 households displaced.

The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Emmanuel Shior, disclosed this yesterday while briefing journalists in his office in Makurdi.

Shior said 11 out of the 23 local government areas in the state have been affected by the flood, including Guma, Vandeikya, Otukpo, Katsina -Ala, Makurdi, Apa, Agatu, Tarka, Gboko, Gwer West and Logo LGAs.

The reports disclosed that in Makurdi, over 30 communities  have been submerged, including Achusa, Gyyado Vilka, Wadata Rice mill BIPC Quarters, Kanshio, Welfare Quarters Fiidi, Wurukum, Timber Shade, Tyo Mu, Agboghol, Judges Quarters Extension, Kyabiz Hotel, Ejja Hotels and Suites, Kucha Utebe among many other areas.

According to him, while 74 persons have been reportedly injured, 116,084 persons have been displaced while 4,411 houses  have been submerged in the flood.

He stated that at the moment, state government, through SEMA, was still profiling the affected persons while providing food and other relief materials to the affected persons.

The SEMA boss stated that: “In Agatu, most people have left their homes and are taking refuge on the high ways,” adding that the state government has concluded plans to evacuate them to safer place in Ogbagaji.

Shior, who lamented that the entire water sources in Makurdi and its environs have been polluted, expressed relief that the federal government, through National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), has sent a water purifying truck to provide the affected persons with drinkable water and prevent an outbreak of water-borne diseases.

He also noted that NEMA was mobilising the zonal office with non-food items like mattresses, mats, blankets and mosquito nets, for the affected persons.

The Director-General of NEMA, Mustapha Habib, represented by the Principal Officer Search and Rescue, John Digha, commiserated with the people of the state over the flood disaster.

While he explained that the water treatment truck was the first phase of the federal government interventions, he further said the process of procuring and sending relief materials, including food and non-food items, to the affected states was in progress.