By Peter Okolie
Former Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mike Okiro, has appealed for medical and agricultural support for victims of the flood disaster in Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta Local Government Areas of Imo.
Okiro, who is the National Leader, Oguta/Ohaji/Egbemea Socio-economic Development Initiative, made the call when he visited flood-affected areas of the state on Thursday.
Some of the areas visited included Obiakpu, Ukwuagba, Ojiji, Oguta, Opuoma Abaezi, Egbema and Etekwuru, among several communities whose mainstay of their economy are fishing and farming.
“The situation is actually piteous and calamitous.
“We have seen the damage done by the flood and I will call it both a national and natural disaster,” Okiro said.
He called for a head count of students in the affected areas in a bid to assist them return to school after eight months of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike.
According to him, the Imo and Rivers State Governments have given the people palliatives, but I think it is not enough because after the flood the people must go back to their farms.
“Apart from giving palliatives, seedlings and cassava stems, the roads should be built, especially the Ohaji/Egbema/Oguta roads.
“The dredging of River Niger, Orashi River and some rivers around the areas is essential to enable easy flow of water into the Atlantic Ocean.
“If the dredging had taken place, we would not have seen this type of flood we saw today,” he said.
While expressing concern over a possible outbreak of malaria, cholera and other health implications, he further appealed for the provision of portable water and medicaments for the flood victims.
Also speaking, Dr Walter Uzonwanne, the Chairman, Oguta/Ohaji/Egbema Socio-economic Development Initiative, expressed dismay over the devastation caused by the flood.
“We are terribly devastated and in pain; we weep every day.
“We are asking for real palliatives; palliative does not end with rice, jerricans, foams, mats and vegetable oil.
“Malaria, cholera and dysentery is prevalent right now with no medication.
“Our siblings were washed away by this flood while over 200 hectares of farm land is flooded as at today.
“So, foams and jerrican cannot satiate us, cannot satiate the number of houses that are flooded.
“We are asking government to take a cursory study of what happened by assessing the devastation,” Uzonwanne added.
In an interview with newsmen, the traditional ruler of Egbema Kingdom of Rivers state, HRM Eze Everestus Amudagenika, also urged the governments to support the people of the area with agricultural supplies.
“The palliatives so far donated may not cover for the loss of buildings after the disaster.
“What I want governments and multinationals to do is to have a head count of the submerged buildings, supply victims with food, especially yam seedlings and cassava stems, to enable them have sustainable recovery,” he said.
The traditional ruler urged the governments to create dams and deepen River Niger to prevent future re-occurrence of the flood.
He also called for the construction of a flyover over the bridge on Ahaoda-Oguta federal highway which usually overflows during flooding to reduce the suffering of the people.
A cassava farmer and victim of the flood disaster, Mrs Priscillia Chimezie, lamented that the flood destroyed her cassava farm and had left her and her family with no food to feed from.
“The moment the flood rescinds, we will need money to start farming,” Chimezie said.
Another victim, Pastor Loveday Ohalagu, a father of five children, said he had yet to benefit from the relief materials donated by the Imo government to victims of the flood in the area.
“We need their assistance for mattresses and other things that are needed in the house that were destroyed
“Since that time till now, we have been undergoing suffering sleeping under an umbrella,” Ohalagu said while pointing to a patched umbrella near the flood bank. (NAN)
