Vehicles and pedestrians currently face difficulties moving across Ganaja and Old Market roads in Lokoja, Kogi state capital as overflow from nearby River Niger surges through the roads.
Our correspondent, while monitoring the situation in the state capital on Sunday, reported that parts of the old market road and Ganaja-Ajaokuta road have been submerged by River Niger.
At the Ganaja axis, canoe operators were seen making brisk business ferrying people to their homes.
Also, residents in flood plains, particularly around Gadumo, Ganaja and Adankolo communities in Lokoja are leaving their homes in droves.
The daily rise of water in Lokoja which caused the flooding of several parts of the town, including Adankolo, Gadumo and Ganaja communities, among others, have forced helpless families out of their homes, while many were trapped in their residences and unable to vacate their flooded houses.
The devastation is coming two weeks after the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) appealed to residents in the town and other communities in flood prone areas to vacate such areas to higher plains following earlier warning of impending flood by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
Hon Victor Omofaiye, Kogi state commissioner for environment, led his team through the city to appeal to residents on the need to ensure clean drainages to avoid blockages and allow for free flow of water.
So far, no fewer than 500 houses and properties worth several millions of naira are submerged in the flood.
