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Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
The Borno State Government has distributed relief materials, including food items and beddings, to scores of people displaced by flooding over the weekend.
Over a thousand residents of Ngamdu, a serene community along Maiduguri-Damaturu highway, some 100 kms to the state capital, were pushed out of their homes as flood surged into houses and shops following heavy rain Sunday night in the middle of the Eid el-Kabir festivities.
Executive Chairman, State Emergency Management (SEMA), Hajiya Yabawa Kolo, while on a visit to the town on Tuesday to assess the extent of destruction, said that over 100 houses and shops were destroyed by the flood.
She said the state governor directed the agency to embark on emergency response in the town, disclosing that she came to deliver a truck load of food items, condiments, beddings and clothings.
“The governor asked us to come to ths town (Ngamdu) with foods, clothings and beddings for the people displaced in the flood. We are here on rapid assessment of the situation,” Kolo told Daily Sun at the scene of the incident.
She explained that each household displaced will be given food items enough for them till the agency completes its assessment and possible rebuilding of the destroyed homes.
Kolo appealed to the affected persons to see the incident as an act of God, urging them to be patient with the government. She further encouraged them to collaborate with local authorities and traditional leaders saddled with the responsibility of distributing the relief materials.
House of Representatives member representing the area (Kaga, Mongumeri and Gubio) Hon Usman Zannah described the incident as unfortunate. He said the flooding came at a time the people were celebrating Eid el-Kabir.
The lawmaker appealed to the people not to build houses or shops on waterways even as he sympathised with for the discomfort and destruction caused by the flood. He donated N500,000 for the upkeep of the displaced persons while the House of Assembly member from the area gave an additional N300,000.
Ngamdu is in Kaga Local Government, an area twice attacked by Boko Haram insurgents.
