By George Edomwonyi
Uzairue – Cash crops worth millions of Naira have been destroyed by flood in Ayoghena and Iyora communities in Uzairue Clan, in the Etsako-West Local Government Area of Edo.
A check by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the affected villages indicated that hectares of farmland with crops were washed away by flood, emanating from a river in the area, which overflowed its banks.
The affected produce included cassava, yam, maize, groundnuts, plantain and others.
Some of the victims, in interviews with NAN, expressed shock over the incident and appealed to the Edo government for help.
One of them, Azeez Umar, said he lost all his farm produce to the flood.
“I invested a lot of my time and finances in cultivating my farm, and I am now worried that just at about harvest time, most of my crops have been washed away by the flood,’’ he said.
Another victim, Paul Oshioneboh, said the incident occurred when most farmers were heavily burdened by the economic recession, and appealed to the state government to give them succour.
Oshioneboh said he lost millions of naira worth of farm produce to the flood.
“I invested millions of naira on this farm, this year.
“As you can see this farmland, which I rely on for my daily bread, is now washed away by the river, which overflowed it banks as a result of heavy rainfall,’’ he said.
Another farmer, Mr Ibrahim Yusuf, said: “the flood has wreaked havoc on our farms; as you can see, we no longer have any crops to harvest.
“We are appealing to the state government to come to our aid, as some of us no longer have any food even for subsistence, very much less to sell,’’ he said.