Okechukwu Nnodim, Princess Etuk The Federal Government has confirmed the activation of various emergency centres across the country to help tackle the flood situation in states. This was even as it also urged residents living in flood-prone locations to move to safer plains, but noted that responses from citizens in some of the affected states had been below expectation. The FG disclosed this on Sunday through the National Emergency Management Agency.
Already, some states have announced the commencement of river dredging in their domains, while others ordered residents in flood-prone areas to evacuate. On Friday, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government said no fewer than 10 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, had either experienced various degrees of flooding or recorded casualties as rains intensified. The report stated that the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, who dropped the red alert during a press briefing in Abuja, warned that 21 more states might suffer flooding.
He stated this against the background of the Wednesday downpour which grounded business and commercial activities in Lagos and Ogun states. The resulting flooding brought down a two-storey building in the Mushin area of Lagos and overwhelmed residents, while pupils could not attend schools in parts of the state. When contacted to speak on what NEMA was doing to help out, the spokesperson, Ezekiel Manzo, said the agency’s Director-General, Zubaida Umar, had ac.
