Heavy flooding has caused extensive damage in Azuoto, Okpuitumo Community, within the Abakaliki Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, destroying many farmlands and properties worth millions of naira.
Chinyere Nworie, one of the affected residents, shared with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki on Friday that her rice, yam, and cassava farms were completely submerged by the flood.
Nworie explained that this has become a recurring issue in the area due to its close proximity to Azuoto and the Ebonyi River, which connects to the River Niger. She also said the flood affected at least 96 households.
“This flood happened on Saturday, following Friday’s rainfall. Our farms have been taken over by the flood. Our community has always suffered flooding every year, especially whenever it rained heavily and water overflows the Ebonyi River bank,” Nworie said.
Another resident, Amauche Agbo, described the situation as “unfortunate.”
The victims urged the government at all levels to provide relief materials to help alleviate the disaster’s impact.
Responding to the situation, Uche Oba, Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency, stated that the agency has begun assessing the affected communities.
Meanwhile, West Africa Weekly reported that the ECOWAS Commission, in a recent Disaster Management meeting in Abuja, ignored calls for infrastructure investments and instead urged West African governments to increase disaster management budgets to address the frequent disasters affecting 75 per cent of the region. The Commission also blamed climate change as the cause of the adverse impact of disasters in the region.
Read: I Never Said I Will Be Anyone’s Vice President For 2027 Elections – Obi
- DR Congo: 37 Sentenced To Death For Coup Attempt
- UNIBEN Students Trapped as Three-Storey Building Collapses in Benin
About The Author
