* State govt issues urgent relocation order
* Group empowers flood victims
The four hydro-electric dams – Shiroro, Jebba, Kainji and Zungeru – located in Niger State have issued a notification about the release of excess water at any moment.
The notification was made available to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA).
In a swift reaction, NSEMA alerted communities in the riverine areas to relocate upstream to avoid the impending disaster.
The agency, in a statement yesterday in Minna, warned that the flooding that would follow the discharge of water from these dams would be catastrophic.
NSEMA’s Director-General, Abdullahi Baba Arah, who signed the statement, also said the Nigerian Hydrological Services had subsequently advised that communities along Rivers Niger and Kaduna should relocate for the same reason.
“The dams are releasing thousands of gallons of water per minute that could lead to the overflow of these rivers, and so we are advising our communities to limit activities around riverbanks during this peak rainy season to avoid flooding.
“Similarly, people living in riverine areas should relocate to safer grounds already identified,” he declared.
The DG continued: “Some of the affected local government areas are Lavun, Magama, Rafi, Kontagora, Gbako, Mokwa, Lapai, Katcha, Agaie, Suleja, Shiroro, Mashegu, Agwara, Bida, Edati, Munya, Bosso, Chanchaga, Paikoro and Wushishi.”
He added that loss of lives had been recorded in these areas.
He, however, did not mention the number of lives lost in the latest disasters.
In a related development, the Mokwa Flood Relief Support Group has issued cheques to school proprietors for sponsoring 88 children who were victims of flooding in the Mokwa council area of the state.
It also issued cheques to some training institutes for the skill acquisition training of 41 widows and children on tailoring, catering, as well as soap making.
Flagging off the exercise at Beyge Primary School in Mokwa, Chairman of the Flood Relief Support Group, Ahmed Nasir, a retired Assistant Controller General of Customs (ACGC), said the gesture was to alleviate the suffering of the survivors.
He explained that since the flood devastated the community, the children of the victims had dropped out of school, as the widows could not take care of their immediate families.
In his remarks, the Ndalele of Mokwa, Muhammadu Shaba Aliyu, expressed delight over the unwavering support from the indigenes.
The Head of Hausa Community in Mokwa, Bala Tanko, who spoke through Biliyaminu Shahu, thanked the group for the humanitarian gesture, promising that the community would remain loyal to constituted authorities.
Responding on behalf of the school proprietors, Suleiman Jibrin, Principal of Hakimi Aliyu Secondary School, Mokwa, urged for sustenance of the sponsorship, and promised to justify the confidence reposed in them by ensuring that all the pupils were impacted positively.