VP Osinbajo on tour of flood affected areas, says 12 states under water will get FG’s support

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, lamented that twelve  states were under water, saying, the  Federal Government would work with the  affected states and relevant stakeholders to ensure that victims whose farmlands and other properties were submerged are paid adequate compensation to cushion the effects of the devastation.

The DEFENDER reported few days ago President Muhammadu’s matching orders to the emergency agencies to deploy supports to assist the flood victims even as he said his condolence to the families of those who lost their lives and moved to help the injured.

In effort to see things for himself, Osinbajo, accompanied by Governor Willie Obiano, visited flood disaster part in Anambra State on Thursday, just like he also visited Delta State for same reason.

Similarly, in Edo State, unending downpour across the state in the last few days have flooded no fewer than 35 communities in Edo Central and Edo North Senatorial districts, rendering the people homeless. Most of the affected communities are on the bank of River Niger.

In Edo Central, particularly Esan South-East LGA, the flood wreaked untold destruction in four of the ten wards, particularly, communities which included Illushi to Ifeku Islands and the surrounding environs.

Other communities affected include Illushi Oji, Oji Ozigono, Oji Awenje, Ajobe, Ajabutu, Owoli, Iyegbi and Ukpodo and other areas where no fewer than 8,000 households were affected and thousands of hectares of farmland washed off.

In Edo North, the devastation affected communities in Etsako East and Etsako Central LGAs.  Mostly affected are Udaba, Anegbette, Usomegbe, Uduchi among others.

In Asaba, Osinbajo who addressed over 700 flood victims, whose houses had been submerged in communities along the shores of the River Niger at the Internally Displaced Persons, IDP in Asaba, said the Federal Government was impressed by the facilities provided by the Delta State Government at the camp for flood victims at Ogbe-Afor Primary School, Asaba.

Osinbajo, who was in the state on a one day official working visit, said “I am very touched seeing all of you who have been evacuated from your homes to this temporary place. It is very disruptive.

“And I commend the state government for moving swiftly to provide this place. The facilities here are adequate. The clinic and the bed spaces are adequate,” adding that Delta and Anambra states have been declared national disaster by the Federal Government.

The Vice President, who had earlier undertaken an aerial inspection of some of the affected communities in Asaba in company of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, decried that it was more difficult to manage the post flood period which includes resettling the victims.

On how to prevent the re-occurrence of flooding in the future, Osibanjo described flooding as ecological challenge which in most cases, cannot be prevented, saying “A lot of the flooding is ecological problem, some of them you may not be able to prevent, and that is what you see practically in every part of the world. We have seen a lot of what the state government has done, a lot of canals have been created.

“So there are very many steps that had been taken but very frequently you find that sometimes the levels are unprecedented. In 2012 if you look at the months and months of rainfall what has happened in the past few weeks is higher than that of 2012.”

Governor Okowa, who accompanied the Vice President on visits to impacted communities, thanked the Federal Government for their speedy response to the flood situation, adding that the state was bracing up for more impact of the flood as water in the affected states would pass through Delta State to empty into the Atlantic Ocean.