Unconfirmed Information that reached our news desk has it that the flood victims at Ahoada East Local Government Area are being fed with one gala each day.
This information was disclosed to our correspondent who boarded a vehicle with a victim of the flood from Ahoada town.
Eight people have so far been said to have died in Ahoada East camps.
The female flood victim who had been in one of the camps, narrated the ordeal the flood victims are facing, stressing that five persons are paired to one small foam, adding that as if that is not enough, area boys have made it their trade to be stealing the foams from the victims.
She said the situation is unbearable as five hefty grown-ups with their children will have to manage one of the smallest foams in existence.
She said thinking of getting water to drink, shelter where they would lay their head to sleep were their main concern and that the efforts of the Rivers State government were not to alleviate the plight of the flood victims.
Narrating further, she said all schools in the area have been closed down to provide shelter for the flood victims.
“Our Eze’s palace in Omoku too is submerged with flood, yet our Eze, Eze Robinson O. Robinson is a kind man and even with such a pitiable condition he finds himself, he still finds time to be visiting the affected families, though the whole of his first floor had been taken over by the flood”, she stated.
The young lady went on to condemn the action of the state government and the area boys who have taken delight in stealing the foams that are not even enough for the flood victims.
Meanwhile, people of Ekpeye have resorted to their traditional ways in the past by invoking the gods of the land by performing traditional spiritual rites to avert the flood.
According to her, any village that failed to involve itself in the special traditional is visited by the flood as the flood spread across the ONELGA.
Meanwhile, contrary to the National Emergency Management Agency NEMA’s claim that it has set up camps for flood victims in Rivers State, the state government has refuted the claim.
In a press conference held at the Government House, Port Harcourt on October 24, 2012, Engineer Tele Ikuru, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State and the Chairman, Flood Relief Committee in Rivers state, said it is not true that NEMA has set up camps in the state.
According to him, “we have been told that NEMA claimed to have set up camps in the state while we do not intend to join issues with NEMA, we make bold to say that all the existing camps in the state are the ones set up by the state government through this committee and to the best of our knowledge nobody or organization has set up any camp anywhere in the state.”
He however said that if anybody is doing anything anywhere in the state, the government welcomes such contributions because as a government the welfare of our people is a collective responsibility, hence if anybody is doing anything we would like to know who is doing what in our state as to be on the same page.
Engineer Ikuru who commended the efforts of other well-meaning Nigerians and organizations that have assisted the committee in the fight to save the lives of the displaced people such as Agip, NDDC, NEMA among others regretted that NEMA as a federal agency responsible for such emergency situations has since the flood started in the state has donated only 500 matresses, 200 bags of assorted food items.
The deputy governor who revealed the efforts made by the state government since the inception of the flood disaster in the four LGAs of Rivers State, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Ahoada East, Ahoada West, and Abua/Odual LGAs noted that the state government has set up flood relief committee headed by himself, that is responsible for the welfare of the flood victims, adding that the state government has also set up various camps with coordinators in each of the camps of the affected four LGAs.
He further hinted that the committee has been visiting the camps to ascertain how they are faring and has been providing them relief materials and food items such as firewood, mattresses, pillows, blankets, mosquito nets, treated water and electricity, stressing that the committee will not have holiday until the people regain what they have lost to flood.
Ikuru further hinted that the flood has so far affected 183 communities spread across the four LGAs.
He said that confronted the committee frowned at the manner in which the people of the affected areas brought their chieftaincy and communal problems to the camps and engage in willful favouritism and criminal diversion of relief materials meant for the flood victims, as well as un-cooperative attitude among them and warned them against such ungodly act, assuring that every effort is being made to ensure adequate security for the camps across the four LGAs to forestall any breach of the law. ###
Allanso Jonathan Allansoand Emeka Jilly Ejiowhor
