By Dennis Naku and Gbenga Odogun
The Niger Delta Development Commission has distributed palliatives to flood-prone communities across the eight local government areas of Bayelsa State.
The commission explained that the gesture was part of its efforts to mitigate the effects of flooding on the people of the state, according to a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Thursday by the NDDC Director, Corporate Affairs, Pius Ughakpoteni.
Managing Director of the NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, while speaking during the handover of the various palliatives in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, said the distribution of the relief materials was the interventionist agency’s response to the challenges confronting the people and a way of cushioning the effects of the perennial flooding in many communities across the state.
Bayelsa was among the 33 states affected by flood in 2022, as some poultry farmers lost birds worth millions of naira.
Some of the communities affected by flood are Swali, Opolo, Tombia, Akenfa and Agudama,
Three persons were also killed while many were displaced by flood in Ayakoro settlement in Ogbia Local Government Area of the state.
Speaking on the succour brought to affected communities, Ogbuku, who was represented by the NDDC Director, Procurement, Dr Week Doodei, and the Director of the Bayelsa State Office of the Commission, Godknows Alamieyeseigha, said the palliatives were handed over to the representatives of the various communities to help them tackle their problems.
He reaffirmed the NDDC’s commitment to ameliorating the challenges facing the people of the Niger Delta region, saying, “We share in the pains of the victims of the flooding in Bayelsa State. We realise that they have lost a lot which cannot be replaced.
He urged community representatives in the flood-hit areas to judiciously distribute the materials, which included food and household items, farm inputs, and livelihood items such as canoes, fishing nets, and hooks, among others, to ensure that flood victims had something to fall back on after their losses.
The NDDC boss appealed to the benefiting community leaders to ensure that the items got to the vulnerable people in their areas, warning that hoarding and diversion of the items would not be tolerated.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Red Cross Society on Friday commenced the disbursement of N45.7m to 1,500 victims of the 2022 flood disaster in nine communities located in Kogi State.
Each of the victims is receiving N30,500 from the NRCS to cushion the effects of the flood disaster on their families and means of livelihoods.
The financial assistance to the victims is with the support of the British Red Cross through the International Federation of Red Cross.
The 1,500 beneficiaries were selected across three local government areas of Lokoja, Kogi and Ibaji areas of the state.
The three local governments are impacted yearly by floods because of their geographic location.
As a result, victims are usually rendered homeless, experience loss of livelihoods, loss of lives, and properties worth millions of naira.
The NRCS in the state said 500 of the beneficiaries were from Gbongboro, Budon, Eggan and Kinami communities in Lokoja Local Government area of the state.
Similarly, 500 beneficiaries are selected from Okelebe, Odaki and Ukwo communities in Kogi Local Government Area of the state, while another 500 beneficiaries were selected from Odogwu, Unale and Itoduma communities in ibaji Local Government Area.
Flagging off the disbursement of the funds in Ibaji Local Government, the Branch Secretary of the NRCS in Kogi State, Alhaji Danjuma Usman, admonished the beneficiaries to make judicious use of the financial assistance.
Also speaking, NRCS ICT officer from the Abuja Headquarters, Ahmed Bolaji, said it was not in the character of the Red Cross to give financial assistance and send its officers to come and collect part of it.
