*Over 600 Hectares of farmlands submerged
*residents says govt yet to set up centres for displaced persons
*motorists stranded, lament travails
Augustine Aminu
Just like in 2012 when Lokoja and adjoining Local government areas were submerged by flood, several communities are already experiencing heavy floods again.
The people of Kogi: Lokoja, Ajaokuta, Ofu, Idah and Ibaji LGAs woke up Sunday morning to serious flooding which submerged several houses while farmlands were washed away.
Narrating their experiences, some residents of the affected communities, told our reporter that they noticed rise in the volume of water late Saturday, but they woke up Sunday morning to the reality of the flood.
“Yesterday we noticed that the water was rising, but this morning the water has taken over every where. We have been rendered homeless now”.
For Sule Muhammed, there is no where to move to. “I’m stranded here as I speak with you. Nowhere to move to. We are appealing to government to come to our aid”.
A visit to some parts of Lokoja the state capital, showed several houses that have been submerged by the flood as people were seen moving their property to safer places.
It was also discovered that some major roads like the old market road and Ganaja-Ajaokuta road have been submerged by River Niger.
The roads served as link between the North, East and Southern parts of the country.
Many passengers were stranded while those who could not stay longer due to the flood had to take canoes to cross to the other part of the road to take commercial motorcycles to the motor park so that they can continue their journey.
At Adakolo Estate and Adankolo Extension, many houses have been deserted by owners as they have moved to safer places.
Some churches were also submerged by the overflow of River Niger, but were seen holding their services despite the flood.
Some residents who spoke with our correspondent particularly in Gadumo and Ganaja communities, lamented that they don’t have any place to relocate to, as they still manage to sleep in the flooded houses, while others said they had to relocate their families back to the village until the situation improves.
Meanwhile the Kogi state government has asked people living in flood prone areas to move to higher ground or government designated areas for safety. This warning was give by the Kogi State Emergency Management Agency.
Residents who spoke with our correspondent, however, lamented that the state government was yet to set up IDP centers or introduce any form of palliative to cushion the effects of the devastating flood.
A middle aged man who spoke to our correspondent in Ganaja, noted that the primary school where they initially took refuge has been flooded again, leaving them in the middle of no where.
“We are calling on the government to come to our aid. We are suffering. Our houses have been taken over by flood, the school where we are taking refuge have flooded again nowhere to go from here”.
As the controversy lingers, a Labour leader, Comrade Opaluwa Eleojo, has tasked government to be sensitive to the plight of its citizens. He wondered why it is taking such a long time to create alternative roads leading into Lokoja from Ajaokuta, when it is becoming obvious that the Ganaja road is prone to perennial flooding that usually cuts off the road from motorists and pedestrians.
Comrade Opaluwa expressed dismay that since 2012 when the first flooding occurred, washing away the road and causing motorists and pedestrians a lot of hardship, the State Government could not think of alternative road to cater for emergencies.
The Labour leader was furious that despite early warning signs and repeated calls that the state would be amongst states that would be flooded this year, he was worried that the State Government could not grade and make the 500 unit road passable for use in the event of such occurrences.
He expressed dismay with the neglected Wada bye pass that would have helped ease the sufferings of commuters in the situation the state is witnessing. He urged the State Government to be sensitive to the sufferings of the people and do the needful.
Comrade Opaluwa expressed worries that the Wada bye pass remained abandoned while the State Government is just thinking of making the 500 unit road motorable. “It is unfortunate”, he said.
He joined in sympathising with people of the state on the hardship they are passing through. He described it as unnecessary, called on the State Government to do the needful by opening up several other alternative roads in the State to cater for emergencies.
He described the neglect as insensitivity on the part of the government to provide alternative roads several years after the perennial flooding that usually affect the only road that leads in and out of Lokoja.
Also the VCDP Rice farmers who are beneficiaries of the Value Chain Development Programme (VCDP) under the FGN/IFAD assisted project in Kogi have lamented over the colossal loss of their rice farms to flooding.
These beneficiaries are vulnerable farmers under the IFAD-VCDP Rural Poor Stimulus Facility (RPSF), aimed at cushioning the effects of COVID-19 pandemic on rural farmers.
This is a clear story of “frying pan to fire” as several of these people may develop disaster induced high blood pressure, which may degenerate into other serious issues because their only hope of survival has been taken away by the flood.
The farmers who are mainly from Ibaji, Lokoja and Ajaokuta Local Government Areas, told Kogi VCDP told journalists in Lokoja, that all their rice farmlands had been submerged by flooding.
Narrating the ordeal, the Ibaji Local Government Liaison Officer, Mr Achogu Fredrick, said about a total of 216 rural farmers in Ibaji who benefitted from the IFAD-VCDP RPSF, had all lost their rice farmlands to flood.
According to him, each of the 216 farmers were having one hectare of rice farmland totaling 216 hectares in Ibaji, and all have been submerged.
He stated that IFAD/ VCDP painstakingly funded RPSF to pull farmers from the dungeon of poverty created by Covid-19 in the system unfortunately the flood event pushed the people back again into hunger and starvation.
”The RPSF grant which was a palliative to support us as vulnerable rural farmers to cushion the effect of the COVID-19, have been lost again.
”A total of 216 farmers who benefitted from the RPSF grant have lost everything to the flood. Indeed, it is a double tragedy for us”.
”We did not only lost our farmlands but also our houses and properties. Presently the fear of what tomorrow holds for the farmers is what is in the heart of the people now”.
”We are calling on the federal, state and other relevant organisations to come to our aid, because this is a colossal damage which can not be repaired. Infact, the entire Kogi VCDP farmers are in mourning mood currently.
Other beneficiaries in Ibaji: Mr Friday Ofor, Joel Ogala, Enefo Festus, Samuel Joseph and Victoria Ajodo, in their separate comments, expressed sadness over the sudden loss of their rice farms to flooding.
”We never expected this kind of great loss, it took us unawares. We are appealing to the relevant agencies and authorities to come to our aid,” Ajodo said.
In their separate comments, the youth and women farmers’ leaders in both Kabawa and Magajiya Clusters in Lokoja, Seidu Liman and Maryam Abubakar, respectively, who were beneficiaries of RPSF described the loss as a great damage to them and their families after investing time and resources only to be swept away by flood.
Liman said the devastating effect of the loss of their rice farmlands to flooding would be huge on them and their wellbeing.
They further called on the government to come to their aid by providing palliatives for immediate relief.
The affected farmers in all the three local government areas, lamented that they did not only loose their farmlands but also their buildings and properties.
They stressed that the flood had further exposed them to more sufferings than before.
Speaking on the incidence, Dr Stella Adejoh, State Programme Coordinator of IFAD/VCDP, expressed sadness over the destruction of rice farms of the vulnerable rural farmers by flooding.
According to her, several people lost their means of livelihood during the COVID-19 pandemic, and consequently are faced with hardships including vulnerable rural farmers.
She explained that IFAD-VCDP through the RPSF grant decided to help the vulnerable farmers affected by the pandemic to bring them out of their poverty situation.
Dr Adejoh said the farmers were provided with grant in form of inputs by IFAD such as fertilizer, certified rice seed, selective and non-selective herbicides, among others.
She noted that a total of about 614 rural farmers, which cuts across the four rice producing Local Government Areas of Lokoja, Ibaji, Ajaokuta and Kabba/Bunu, benefitted from the RPSF in the state.
”It is very unfortunate and devastating that these poor vulnerable farmers have now lost almost everything due to flooding. I feel very sad and demoralized over the colossal loss,” she said.