NIGER (Sundiata Post) – Over three hundred communities are flooded and an estimated five million locals were sacked from their homes in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State in North Central Nigeria.
Gathered that women and children are now taking shelter upland, converting schools into internally displaced persons camps they are also faced with acute water shortage.
During a tour of some of the affected communities, Channels Television visited Jifu and Muregi which are located at the confluence of Rivers Niger and Kaduna in Mokwa local government area.
Although Schools are currently in session in Niger State, children in the state will have to miss class for several weeks and in the worst case a month, losing valuable learning time.
Women’s and children’s welfare is at its lowest, with health care facilities buried and sources of water flooded.
There is also a growing concern over outbreaks of diseases because the floods collect their personal and domestic waste and it is also from here they collect water to cook and drink. One of the floods victims, Aishatu Yaya said she is worried that each time the government releases support packages for them, it does not come to them.
Several farmlands have been washed away putting farmers at a loss, and concern for Nigeria’s food security.
Audu Yaware, a farmer and community leader in Jifu village said he is also worried over the present economic challenges, occasioned by the increase in fuel Price which is already hitting hard and the flood puts them in a dire situation.
The Council chairman Mokwa local government area of Niger State, Abdullahi Muregi said although life was not lost, properties and farmland have been submerged.
He called for help, saying that the situation had overwhelmed the local government.
