20th October, 2023
By Okafor Ofiebor/Port Harcourt
Flood victims in some communities in Oyigbo Local Government Area of Rivers state are overwhelmed by the loss of their homes and properties, especially the sudden stoppage of children’s education, PM NEWS can report.
Affected families who now live in makeshift Internally Displaced Persons, IDPs camps located in schools, are lamenting that the flood not only submerged their houses, and destroyed their possessions, but abruptly disrupted the education of their children. Indeed, their children’s schools now serve as their temporary accommodation.
The victims who lamented that they were unable to salvage most of their possessions before their houses were overwhelmed by water are however appealing to Rivers State Government for urgent help.
As was discovered by PM NEWS, the worst hit communities in the local government by the flood are Umuegbulum 1 and 2, Umuokologbo and Oyigbo West.
About 200 residents of the communities are taking refuge at the IDP camp under heavy security provided by armed local vigilantes, popularly called OSPAC.
Caterers were also seen preparing meals for the flood victims.
Though the Nigeria Meteorological Agency and the National Emergency Management Agency had predicted that certain local government areas in Rivers state would experience severe flooding this year, the affected residents said they were unprepared for the scale of the disaster.
Speaking on the flood disaster one residents, Sunday Anayo, said, “As I speak to you now, there is water everywhere from the road to my compound. Some people have even left their houses because of the situation. The flood is huge.”
Chinaza, another affected resident, shared the extent of the damage, saying, “My mattress, electronics, documents, and children’s property were all affected. The level of water is something else. Imagine a fridge being covered by the water. More than 200 people now don’t have a place to stay. So we just escaped by running away and we found ourselves here. We are just helpless now and we are begging the government to come to our aid because the camp they set up may not contain all those affected.”
Another resident, who opted to remain anonymous said, “We could not even recover anything from our house because of the water. I only brought out my son’s school bag.”
The Chairman of the Oyigbo Local Government Area, Nwaogu Akara, disclosed that the council has begun evacuating affected residents to the IDP camp in the vicinity.
Akara assured the affected individuals that the local government would do its utmost to alleviate their suffering. He stated, “We will try our best, as a government, to make sure that our people do not suffer as a result of this occurrence.”