-Claims three lives in Ayamelum

-Houses, farm lands submerged

-IDP camps not functional

-Victims call for urgent support

By Francis Ekpone, Okechukwu Onuegbu, Chinedu Nwaneri, Kene Onyekwuluje & Peter Ikegbunam

Riverine communities across Anambra State have come under sever humanitarian crisis as the long predicted massive flooding finally hits the shores of the state.

Orient Daily findings show that the rampaging flood has already claimed lives of three farmers at Anaku community in Ayamelum Local Government Area of the Anambra state. The victims, according to Mr John Udemezue, the director of Project Ayamelum Network (PAN) are Oranyelu Egwuatu Nwato, Anthony Ikegbunam Nwakaeze and Obiorah Emeka all from Ikenga Anaku. According to MR. Udemezue, two of the victims died in the cause of struggling to rescue their cash crops from the rising flood water.

The traditional ruler of Anaku, Igwe Peter Obalum Oforkansi, who confirmed the development in an exclusive interview with Orient Daily also disclosed that many other farmers in the community, Umerum and other riverine communities in the area had already sustained heavy losses even as the flood continues to rise.

He expressed regrets that rescue efforts did not arrive to save the victims. According to the monarch, if flying boats were available “it would have helped to secure the submerged crops the dead victims.

While reacting to the state of the flood, the President General of Igbakwu town, Mr Mike Chike disclosed that Igbakwu farmers have already lost many cash and food crops to the flood. The president general equally stated that his farmland was also flooded and his farm produce all gone.

Orient Daily’s investigation in other flood prone communities in parts of the state shows that many families whose farmlands and property lie on the lowland areas have already been sacked following upsurge in water level.

The massive flooding in parts of Anambra follows overflowing of the Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro dams in the upper Niger river and Cameroon, which released excess water down the lower Niger as it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Orient Daily reported that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), had through its Director General, Engr. Mustapha Maihaja, alerted residents of communities along the River Niger and its offshoots in states such as Kebbi, Niger, Kogi, Anambra, Delta, Imo, Rivers and Bayesla states of the impending severe flooding it tagged “Orange Alert level”.

“The Orange Alert is the second most severe category in measurement. In the light of the above the Agency organised a flood coordination forum held Wednesday, September 13, 2017 and is therefore calling on the general public in the aforementioned areas to move to higher grounds and the respective state governments to engage in sensitization, evacuation and preparation for possible flooding,” NEMA had declared.

Anambra was one of the states identified by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency as one of the states that would be hit by a devastating flooding this year.

Following the flood alert, Anambra’s State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) embarked on aggressive sensitization campaign, urging people residing in the riverine areas to relocate to upland areas to avoid a repeat of the 2012 flood disaster that claimed many lives and destroyed properties worth billions of naira.

SEMA also claimed it had set up camps in most affected communities and put in place necessary administrative and logistics to take care of victims of the flood mayhem.

However, Orient Daily investigations on Wednesday reveal that though, the flood has not wrecked much havoc in most of the communities with water level yet to reach critical level, SEMA and Anambra State government have not actually set up the much-touted camp facilities or put machineries in place to take care of the flood victims, contrary to earlier claims.

At some of the designated camps like the Father Joseph Memorial High School, Aguleri in Anambra East Local Government Area and Ogbaru council area, there was nothing on ground to show that government was ready for the emergency operations.

At communities like Osomala, Ochuche, Ogbakuba and others in Ogbaru council area where the recent persistent rainfall and rising water level had already rendered many households homeless, sacked families have reportedly relocated to their relatives’ houses in upland areas like Onitsha.

Orient Daily spotted two buildings, including a health centre, African Garden Hotel, Okpotunu in Odekpe that have already been submerged by the devastating flood.

The owner of the hotel, who pleaded anonymity, noted that the flood in that part of the community was not as a result of river bank overflow; but as a result of government’s negligence of the welfare of its citizens.

She told our reporters that her building’s flooding was caused by the contractors handling Atani road who excavates sand from the area for the road construction but regretted that Anambra State government abandoned her to her faith, after series of complaints she logged to the appropriate quarters.

Similarly, stakeholders from the council area have expressed displeasure over the inclusion of its headquarters, Atani as an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp.

The reaction is sequel to a recent list of IDP camp released by the National Emergency Maintenance Agency (NEMA), as pro-active measures to reduce the effect of flood, predicted to occur in some parts of the country.

The Ogbaru Supervisory Councillor for Works, Hon. Celestine Ijeomah who spoke to our reporters decried that an IDP camp is stationed at a place that is also feared to be prone to the predicted flood.

He stressed the need for special camps to be made available, for the purpose of safeguarding the lives and properties of residents during the flooding period. According to him, “the government can ask flood prone communities like us to provide lands, which would be sand-filled up to 10 feet and structure put in place to serve a camp during flooding”.

Mr. Ijeomah who stated that the 2012 flood incidence made his community realise the importance of flood preparedness, adding that people were already relocating to safety, but decried that government has not provided anywhere.

The councilor recounted the havoc caused by flood in the community in 2012 where many people were rendered homeless and prayed against a reoccurrence of such incident. “From our observation, there are signs of flood, but the speed with which it is coming is not much. I advise people living in riverine areas to always be at alert, heed to government call for relocation to higher grounds until the flood recedes”, he added.

On his part, Hon. Hygienus Okoma, representing ward 406, which comprised of Ochuche, Ogbakoba, Umuzu and Aneh, corroborated Ijeomah’s stand that the whole of Ogbaru local government is prone to flood, reiterating that the local government headquarters is most times submerged in serious flood incidents.

Although the councilor acknowledged that the headquarters had served as IDPs camp in the past but feared that the safety of the people cannot be guaranteed, even as he added that some part of the secretariat’s fence had collapsed as a result of previous flood incidence.

“We have places in the secretariat where they can stay, but most people prefer to go to Ekwusigo and other communities that are not prone to flood. Ogbaru generally is a flood-prone area, and something needs to be done to put a safer camp in place”, he said.

Hon. Okoma bemoaned the 2012 flood incidence, and stated emphatically that the sensitisation is ongoing to convince residents in the community to take proactive steps; while stressing the need for such sensitisation to assure residents that they would be fully assisted in the camp during the flood period.

The Secretary, State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Chief Paul Odenigbo could not be reached for comments as several calls put across to him was not picked and the text messages sent to him was not replied as at the press time.   

But the SEMA Information Officer, Nwankwo Chinyere declined comments on the state of the preparedness and other findings but rather told our reporter that the agency, through the support of the Anambra State government, last week, trained SEMA officials on basic preparedness and response skills on disaster management.

“During the training, we were exposed to different search and rescue equipment by NEMA and they charged us to always prepare and ensure that all necessary tools are available in our disaster kits in case of emergency. The sensitisation featured lectures and practical demonstrations of quick response to emergency situations like flood, fire outbreak, building collapse, among others” she said.

The seeming lackluster approach by SEMA may have prompted the Majority leader of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Jideofor Okoye to urge the SEMA leadership to urgently come to the aid of the flood-affected people of Anambra West Constituency. According to him, the people of the communities in the area, were passing through untold hardships and unquantifiable economic losses due to the flood crisis.

Meanwhile most affected farmers have implored the state and federal government at all level and donor agencies to please come to their rescue adding that all their year’s effort have been drowned in the flood.

In his words, Anthony Umeadi told our correspondence that what we want is for the government and all other donor agencies should as a matter of urgency, come to their rescue as this situation will leave them completely hungry for the year.

Mr Bennard Nnechi from Umuali Akanator Omor stated that their major challenge in that the area is that when things like this happens, the government will bring some relief materials but those to whom such materials are entrusted end up siphoning the materials. He however urged the government and all donor agencies to please ensure that the relief materials that may be sent are carefully directed to trusted people who can deliver them properly to the affected flood victims.

While responding to the reason why they fall victim of the flood in spite of efforts made by the government through the media to ensure that the people do not cultivate their crops in flood prone areas, the traditional prime minister of Igbakwu, Chief Ngoesina Okonkwo who spoke to our correspondence on behalf of his traditional ruler HRH igwe prof. Onuorah Nwuneli said that the announcement came late when most of the food and cash crops have been cultivated. The prime minister further stated that the farmers ignored the announcement equally because previous announcements about the flood such as the ones done in 2013, 2014 and 2015 did not came again and this makes it somehow unrealistic to some farmers.
Source: https://orientdailynews.com/anguish-as-flood-hits-anambra-26-other-states/
Seun Lalasticlala mynd44[quote][/quote]