The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) today convened an Emergency Coordination Forum meeting over the current flood situation especially along River Benue.
In his brief, the Director General NEMA Mustapha Habib Ahmed said the Agency has been alerted of a sudden increase in inundation of riverine communities and farmlands along the banks of River Benue in Adamawa State, Taraba and Benues in the past 48 hours.
The sudden increase, he attributed to the rapid release of water from Lagdo Dam in the Republic of Cameroon, which has resulted in the displacement of several inhabitants of the affected communities.
While noting that upsurge of water may also affect states downstream of the River Benue, the DG NEMA urged the State and Local Governments along the plains to be on alert and immediately activate their response plans to avert potential damage and losses that may arise due to the likely inundation by flood waters
The DG NEMA also gave update from the Agency's situation room dashboard, which indicate that this year's flood has affected 159,157 persons, resulted in the loss of 28 persons and displacement of 48,168 individuals in 13 states.
Present at the meeting were representatives of NIHSA, Federal Ministries of Water Resources, Education and Environment among others. Also present were representatives from NSCDC, Fire Service, UNICEF, UNOCHA and Nigerian Red Cross Society. The Executive Secretaries/Chairman of some SEMAs joined the meeting via zoom.
0 Comments