By Amuda Dan Sulaiman Fab
Residents along the banks of Rivers Niger and Benue in Lokoja are apprehensive as the river has overflown its banks.
The residents are also disturbed by the recent report of the opening of Lagdo Dam, that is now filled to capacity.
Already some buildings and farmlands along the river had been submerged in Ganaja, Gadumo, Adankolo, Kabawa, Galilee, Cantonment and Sarkin-Noma of Lokoja, while a stream known as Meme that also passes through the town has also submerged some buildings and farmlands in Lokoja.
In an interview with some residents whose buildings and properties are already affected, a resident in Galilee, Mallam Haruna Saidu, today, told Nationalwatch Tv crew on on-the-spot assessment of the level of Water that; “We are in distress and afraid that more rainfall or release of excess water from the dam can spell more doom for us.
“Already, some places like Sarkin-Noma is experiencing serious flooding from the rivers,” Mustapha Ali, a resident said.
Mallama Umar Mariam of Galilee said some residents of the area had started moving out of the street.
“The flooding from the river is expanding in Galilee here and people have started moving out,” Mariam said.
Meanwhile, the Kogi State Government has established 42 Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps across 8 Local Government Areas with 9 flood-prone communities as a proactive measure towards mitigating the flood impact in the wet season.
The State Commissioner for Environment and Ecological Management, Joseph Oluwasegun, who announced this during a meeting with stakeholders, further noted that
250,000 people spread across nine communities in the state are at risk of being displaced in the event of flood this year.
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