By Miriam Humbe
The Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo appreciated the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for the Agency’s prompt response to the flood situation in the State.
The Governor gave the appreciation during the visit of NEMA’s Director General, Mrs Zubaida Umar to Lokoja.
Gov. Ododo who was represented by the his Deputy Elder Joel Salifu said the response by NEMA was reassuring of the efforts by the Federal Government to assist the state to address the impact of the flood disaster.
He therefore, appealed to the Federal Government to find lasting solution to the recurrent incident of flooding of communities located along the major rivers by constructing more dams and dredging the rivers.
The Director General of NEMA who was represented by the Director, Planning Research and Foresting, Dr Onimode Abdullahi Bandele who led the NEMA team to Lokoja assured that the Agency would collaborate with the State Government to address the flood situation in the State especially with regards to the challenges faced by affected communities and displaced persons.
The DG said that the Agency had activated it’s operational office and deployed technical officers for rescue and evacuation operations as well as to also assess the extent of damages in collaboration with the State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA), and other relevant stakeholders.
The NEMA boss commended the State Government for establishing emergency shelters around Lokoja and other flood prone locations to accommodate displaced persons and noted that the NEMA had deployed it’s mobile water purifiers to ensure the availability of clean drinking water for the displaced persons.
The NEMA team visited some camps where some of the Internally Displaced Persons are taking temporary shelter.
