Story from Ahmed SAKA, Bauchi
Bauchi State Governor Senator Bala Mohammed Abdulkadir has explained that 200 households have been displaced in Cheledi, headquarters of Kirfi Local Government Area of Bauchi State as a result of flood that ravaged the area last Thursday after a heavy downpour that lasted several hours.
Governor Bala gave the explanation when he paid a sympathy visit to the area today Saturday, He urged the people to take it as an act of Allah expressing joy that no life was lost in the disaster though properties were lost.
The Governor who took several hours to go round on feet to the places affected sympathized with the victims assuring them that his administration will do everything possible to bring succour to them in order to alleviate their suffering in the interim.
The Governor also assured them that he will immediately contact the President, Muhammadu Buhari to see an area of urgent intervention before the main relief will come, saying that the disaster is devastating considering the level of destruction of houses and other properties.
He promised to set up an engineering committee that will study the area and bring scientific solutions to the recurrent flood in the area.
Governor Bala called on traditional and religious leaders in the area to be just in the distribution of the relief items sent to the area for temporary relief saying that, “you should make sure that only those affected should be given the items to assuage their losses temporarily.”
He said that his administration will take measures that will check the yearly flooding in the area as well as other locations in the state that are prone to flooding to put a stop to the loss of lives and properties.
The Governor also charged the communities to maintain acceptable standards of hygiene behaviours in order to avoid infectious diseases that normally come with disaster particularly cholera and covid-19.
He stressed the need to beef up security in the area particularly at places where displaced people are taking refuge saying that there is a possibility of bad eggs in the society taking advantage of the situation to intimidate and harass the people.
The governor warned that with the mixing of people due to the disaster, there is a need for serious attention to be paid in order to avoid acts of immorality which can cause God to be angrier with the people.
He stressed that “parents should put eyes on their small girls to avoid cases of rape by bad eggs among them, they are all around. You should report them to the members of the vigilante group and other security personnel around. We should make security very important.”
The District Head of Kirfi, Umar Muhammad Umar thanked the Governor for the sympathy visit saying that it was prompt considering that it was just 2 days after the disaster that he visited, a demonstration of good leadership.
He recalled that “last year when we had a similar disaster, you sent a powerful delegation to commiserate with us, you sent N10m that was shared among the victims, it really went far to ameliorate their losses.”
The traditional ruler who was represented by the Village Head of Cheledi, Adamu Muazu reminded the Governor of his promise to construct an access road in the area that will reduce the menace of flooding.
Meanwhile, some of the residents of the area called on the state government to as a matter of fact direct people who built on waterways in the area to immediately vacate such places or be forced to relocate to other safer places.
The residents who spoke to Journalists on Saturday during an assessment visit lamented that the constant flooding is caused by blockage of drainages and waterways in the area.
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