…Lions Club donates relief items to Kogi victims; Yobe govt. supports 2,000 households***
The Nigerian Navy says it is providing security and ferrying stranded commutters across the flooded East-West Road linking Port Harcourt, Rivers, and Yenagoa in Bayelsa.
Sub-Lieutenant Tochukwu Okeke, the Base Information Officer, Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) SOROH, a unit of Central Naval Command, said this on Sunday.
He said that the navy had been ferrying people and goods from flooded spots between Yenagoa and Port Harcourt, and deployed medical personnel to care for those in need.
The Base spokesman added that the operation was being coordinated by the Commander of NNS SOROH, Commodore Sunday Daniel-Atakpa.
“As directed by Flag Officer Commanding, Central Naval Command and under the strategic directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff to deploy men and materials to bring this hardship to the barest minimum.
“Under the directive of my Commander, this operation will continue until the flood recedes, this operation is not stopping, we will continue to deploy men and materials to render help and humanitarian needs to Nigerians because we are here for them.
“The motto of the Navy is “Onward Together”. So we are moving with everybody.
“We are informed of the hardship persons are facing here, the flood is unprecedented, on Friday, we got reports that five persons lost their lives, that’s to show you how devastating it is.
“We have been providing intervention in terms of humanitarian needs, we have been providing ferries from this Ahoada point down to that place where there is a ferry point.
“Basically, we have been providing ferries at flooded parts of the road from Bayelsa to Port Harcourt and Port Harcourt back to Bayelsa. We have also been providing medicare for persons,” he added.
According to him, the Navy operation which lasted about one week also prioritizes vulnerable people such as the sick, aged persons, nursing mothers, and their infants, and helps convey them to safer grounds.
Okeke however said that no casualty had been recorded since the naval interventions started.
He added that the nefarious activities of hoodlums who take advantage of the situation to rob travellers of their valuables and extort money from tipper drivers along the route had been curbed.
It was reported that the flood had cut off the East-West Road which connects states in the South-East and South-South to the South-Western part of the country.
The intervention of the navy will help commutters struggling for three weeks to navigate the flooded portions and continue with their journeys to and from Yenagoa, Ahoada, Omoku, Port Harcourt, Owerri, Uyo, Calabar and other cities.
Meanwhile, drivers of tipper trucks are making brisk business as they transport persons and goods such as foodstuffs, drinks, and livestock across the flooded sections.
A commuter, Mrs. Rita Ayaku, commended the Navy for the intervention, saying it has eased the hardship faced by people affected by the flood.
In another development, The Lions Club International, District 404A2 Nigeria, on Sunday donated food items to victims of flood in Lokoja and Kotonkarfe Local Government Areas of Kogi.
Speaking to newsmen at the IDP camp Adankolo, Lokoja, Mr. Jide Bello, the Club’s District Governor, Abuja, said, ”The Lion club is a charity organisation that is always there to help where there is need”.
Bello said they were in Kogi to distribute food items and clothing materials to the displaced indigenes of the state.
”We heard about the flood disaster that submerged their homes and we made our inquiry to get the statistics of their numbers in various IDP camps in Lokoja and Kotonkarfe.
”We are able to identify four camps, which are Kotonkarfe, Serki-Noma, Adankolo, and Gadumo.
”So, we have brought food and other relief items to share and sympathise with them, and to say ‘where there is need there is always a lion’.
”On the whole, based on our statistics, we have reached out to over 3,000 victims including males and females in Kogi.
”We give Kogi a priority because it is worst-hit by the flood disaster. Next week by God’s grace, we shall be visiting Rivers, Bayelsa, Anambra, and Ebonyi states,” he said.
He disclosed that the distributed items were donated by people, fellow lions, and the Lions Club International Foundation (LCIF) Abuja, worth over N10 million.
He commended the IDP camps’ coordinators for ensuring proper coordination at the camps without chaos.
Items donated included rice, garri, tomatoes, sugar, milk, Maggi, salt, oil, pepper, clothes, shoes, bags, and antiseptics, among others.
Lions Club’s District Governor, 494 A2 Nigeria, Lion Hide Belli, distributing relief items to flood victims in Lokoja, Kogi
Also speaking, Dr. Ozi OKonofua, the club’s District Committee Chairperson for Site Preservation and Awareness, enjoined government at all levels to be more prepared for the recurrent flood disaster.
He expressed the club’s dissatisfaction with the humanitarian aspect of the camps visited, saying there was no good sanitary condition which could result in outbreak of diseases.
He urged governments to look at the plight of the victims to find a lasting solution through collaborations with the club and other critical stakeholders to tackle the menace.
Some of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Teni Isa, Hauwa Suna, and Mrs. Mary Sunday thanked the club for alleviating their suffering and pray God to bless them.
”In fact, I am so happy because we never expected that such kind of items will come. May God bless them,” Isa said.
The lions club members had earlier paid a courtesy visit to the palace of Ohimegye Igu of Koton-karfe, HRM Alhaji Abdulrazak Isakoto.
In his remarks, Isakoto appreciated the club for their visit, saying he was overwhelmed by the gesture toward his people.
The traditional ruler said the extent of destruction by the flood disaster in the area and all over was massive and beyond comprehension.
”Our place is always flooded and badly hit because our people settled along the banks of River Niger and Benue.
”I want to, on behalf of the Traditional Council of Lokoja and Kotonkarfe. as the Chairman, I say thank you for your donations, we pray that God will bless you,” the royal father said.
