Delta Govt sends relief materials to flood affected community

The Delta State Government delivered relief materials to the Polobubo (Tsekelewu) Community in Warri North Local Government Area of the state.

Mr. Mofe Pirah, Co-chairman of the Delta Flood Management Committee, led other government officials on Thursday to deliver the items to the community that had been ravaged by flood in recent times.

Residents of Polobubo (Teskelewu) Community, had on Sunday staged a peaceful protest in Polobubo over incessant flood ravaging the area due to various activities of oil companies. The protesters were armed with placards of various inscriptions such as “No Farming, No Food, because of Flood, Government Help Us”. They called on the three tiers of government to prevail on oil companies operating in the community to dredge inland waterways, saying that this would save them from the perennial flooding.

Pirah, also the Commissioner for Oil and Gas, said that the aim was to help cushion the effect of the flood on the oil-bearing community. He assured the people that the state government would do all it could to assist all communities in the state affected by the flood.

Other members of the flood committee on the tour were: the Commissioner for Information, Charles Aniagwu; Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Chris Onogba and Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Chiedu Ebie.

Responding, Mr. Ebilate Mac-Yoroki, National President of Polobubo (Tsekelewu) National Council (PNC), thanked the state government for its prompt response. Mac-Yoroki said the action served as reassurance that people had not been abandoned to “a perilous fate”. He said that the community had remained one of the most peaceful and law-abiding in the state in spite of its numerous socioeconomic and environmental challenges.

“If the oil companies operating within our environment and the Federal Government had responded swiftly to our plights, we would not have embarked on protest. We thank Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa and his team for this response, we are especially delighted that his response is coming swiftly. However, we are asking that this intervention should not stop with relief materials” Mac-Yoroki said.

Mac-Yokori also appealed to the Federal Government to compel oil companies to connect Polobubo and Opuama with electricity supply and potable water.