Some members of Kogi State House of Assembly have been forced to vacate their quarters located along the Ganaja road as surging flood continue to wreck havoc in Lokoja, the capital city and other parts of the state.
As at Sunday morning, no fewer than eight households were sacked in the Assembly quarters.
Those affected called for urgent action to ameliorate the situation, even as they declined having their names in print.
More parts of the state capital have been affected by the flood as distraught residents and commuters are struggling to adapt to the ‘new normal’.
The Ganaja road, linking the eastern parts of the state and country, is currently impassable for travellers and those residing in the eastern part of the state capital.
Hundreds of other residents have been rendered homeless by the flood.
Findings showed the situation is worsening daily, while distraught residents of adjourning communities and those from no less than nine other local government areas seek non- existing alternatives in the capital.
A number of the displaced, including those from Shintako, in Bassa LGA, along with the little belongings they could carry, were seen overnight crossing over in canoes into Lokoja.
Civil servants, businessmen and women, artisans and other residents around Ganaja village can only cross the flooded road into Lokoja metropolis on canoe or flying boats.
Also, the main entrance road in Lokoja town from Abuja has been overrun by flood. The Kabawa axis of the road, along Nataco junction and Old Market, has become a nightmare for motorists and pedetrians.
At a recent stakeholders meeting organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in partnership with the Kogi State Emergency Management Agency (KOSEMA), the desk officer in charge of ecological and emergency matters in Kogi local government council, Ibrahim Abdullahi, said that 66 communities had been submerged by flood in the area.
Abdullahi added that over 50,000 people had been forced to evacuate their houses and were now being accommodated in schools, filling stations and other makeshift buildings.
Similarly, the Chairman of the flood committee in Ibaji local government area, Mr Omonu James, said that floods had sacked thousands of residents from their houses in the area. He added that all the 26 schools in the council had been converted to camps for the displaced persons.
KogiReports can confirm that residents of about twenty one communities in Lokoja local government area have relocated to neighbouring Niger state. Some communities that were not affected during the devastating 2012 flood have been submerged by this year’s flood menace.
Residents of Eggan, Twaki, Kinami, Lagan, Buzhi, Ebwa, Miza, Ebbe, Dambo, Twanawa, Taraba, Taji, Doji, Compala, Edo, Lanbata, Budon, Gori, Budon Tsofo, Ashe and Arra, all in Lokoja local government, have been forced to relocate to Niger state.
