NOA issues flood alert

The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has warned people living along the bank of the River Niger in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital of a likely flooding. The agency urged residents in the area to immediately relocate to safer locations.

NOA said the alert became necessary following reports from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) as well as the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, (UN-OCHA), indicating that the Niger River Basin, traversing Guinea, Mali, Niger Republic and Nigeria, would be flooded in mid-2016 due to forecasted heavy downpour.

The report warned that an estimated 105, 000 Nigerians would be among the 100, 000, 000 people affected along the flood path of the over two million square kilometers of the Niger River Basin.

But a cross section of some inhabitants along the Niger River bank have expressed mixed feelings over the alert, adding that the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) had earlier in the year indicated that there would be low rainfall in 2016.

A respondent, Mr Ibrahim Gadumo, flayed the state and federal governments for always asking people to relocate without making any provision for them.

On his part, Mr Charles Michael expressed skepticism about the possibility of any flood this year, adding that he does not have the financial wherewithal to relocate.

The Public Relations Officer of the Kogi State Emergency Management Agency, (SEMA), Ibikunle Funmilayo, said plans are underway to sensitize flood-prone communities on the impending disaster and the need for them to move to safer locations.