By John Akinfehinwa
The Kogi State Government has urged residents in flood prone areas to relocate to higher ground, adding that indiscriminate dumping of refuse must be stopped to prevent flooding in the state.
Recall that the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) in May warned that 27 states together with 121 local government areas will experience high-risk flooding during this year’s rainy season.
The states include Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Cross Rivers, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, and Lagos.
Other highly probable states of the impending floods are Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara.
Speaking to newsmen when he visited Sarki-Noma, a suburb in Lokoja, the Kogi State Commissioner for Environmental Hon. Victor Adewale Omofaiye, urged residents in flood-prone areas to relocate, stressing that there is a high level of destruction caused by indiscriminate dumping of waste in drainages.
He noted that in as much as the people would not desist from dumping refuse in waterways, the possibility of mitigating the effect of flooding will be reduced stressing that they are in the community to sensitize the people and create awareness for them to get themselves prepared for the upcoming flood.
According to him, going by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) prediction, Kogi will be experiencing flooding.
He however restated Governor Yahaya Bello’s commitment to tackling environmental issues in the state.
Earlier, the leader of the Sarki Noma community showed Omofaiye and his team around the area, expressing dissatisfaction over the position of the river in the community, which according to him always overflows during the flood and consequently destroys houses and other valuable properties.
The General Manager, Kogi State Sanitation and Waste Management Board, Mallam Abdulganiu Sanni, advised that every household should have waste bins stressing that this would go a long way to reduce the menace of dumping of refuse in the drainages.
Also speaking, Mrs. Dorcas Enehe, Director of Climate Change, who revealed the 2021 NIMET prediction about the flood, confirmed that sensitization of the flood-prone areas is ongoing in the state.
