•Tales of anguish from Lokoja flooding
•Travelers spend days without bathing
•Residents drink flood water
•Cost of food skyrocket
From EMMANUEL ADEYEMI, AIDOGHIE PAULINUS and KEMI YESUFU in Lokoja
Right now, Lokoja, the Kogi State capital is in the eye of the storm. Flood has engulfed almost the entire confluence city for about 10 days and literally sits pretty and relaxed like an army not in a hurry to relinquish a conquered territory.
Travelers from the Northern and southern part of the country are trapped in the affected areas. The situation is chaotic with over 1,000 trucks and their drivers, motor-boys, okada riders, shylock petty traders and villagers, scrambling for survival.
Troubled Confluence State
Kogi is popularly known as the Confluence State. Two of Nigeria’s major rivers – Niger and Benue literally shake hands a little below Lokoja towards the south. The handshake that had lasted ages has now exceeded the wrist and it seems to be a hug. But it is seemingly a fatal and hurtful bear hug with the people and their homes. There is water everywhere in the city of hills that make the people cry.
Even though a similar situation occurred in 1998, when the river covered and threatened some of the buildings at the riverbank, the situation was however not as bad. At the moment, over 3,000 displaced persons live in refugee camps around some communities in Koton-Karfe alone. They wallow in confusion and hardship. Housed in a primary school, they are presently living at the mercy of others.
From historical accounts, the under-water city was founded by William Balfour Bakie, and was the capital of the then British Northern Nigeria Protectorate.
Sunday Sun dispatched a team of reporters to the areas ravaged by flood and the visit revealed the danger ahead of the nation in food scarcity, looming health problems, the economic losses for travelers and many more.
Going round three refugee camps in the state was a revealing experience. Natives of the state that had lived in the comfort of their homes before the terrible flood are crammed in their thousands in destitute homes and fed at the whims of the government.
The Sunday Sun team witnessed hunger, anger, ill health and worst of all, there is slim hope that they will resume their normal lives in the near future.
The three camps – Adankolo, Gadumo and Kabawa have 875, 207 and 278 refugees respectively
Water everywhere
At the Sarkin Numa area of the state, a popular stopover point for travelers, a dejected Ademola Ajayi, an electrician from Kabba/Bunu Local Government area of Kogi State, said the problem started over a week ago. Ajayi whose shop and residence were covered with water, said he had no option than to relocate. He told Sunday Sun that he felt bad because “if a place one earns his daily bread is no more, there is no reason to feel happy.”
It began when they suddenly saw water surging towards their homes. “It started gradually and before we knew it, it filled everywhere. Not even during rainfall because, there was no rain at the time. We just saw that the water was coming. It is about one week and three days now. The water came from the River Niger,” he said.
Ajayi however denied the presence of any government official since the flood overwhelmed the vicinity.
Firsthand experience
The journey to Lokoja was not easy. There were reports that one has to pay as much as N5,000, N500 and N200 to cross the road by canoe. Hard as the driver tried to explain the situation, it was plausible for one to note at that juncture that seeing was believing. On September 27, the journey to unravel the Lokoja flood commenced from Abuja. The journey lasted two hours, twenty minutes as the driver of the 504 wagon arrived at the Banda area of Lokoja at 9:25am. On arrival, soldiers on camouflage who were negotiating with drivers and owners of vehicles ready to be ferried to the other side of the road, caught the team’s attention. After a brief introduction, the soldiers allowed access to the area.
There is no food for us –Asmau Alhassan, 25
I am a farmer and I live in Mousou riverside in Bassa. There are 40 of us that lived in the house before the flood came.
It was last Sunday night that the flood from River Niger took over our entire settlement. It came unexpectedly and swept away all our belongings including farmlands, livestock, crops and household effect. As I speak with you, we have nothing to eat or wear; we only rely on goodwill.
No change of clothes in eight days –Aishat Ishaq (fish seller)
We lived in our house of nine rooms. My husband, a driver, laboured to build the house five years ago but the flood just came suddenly at night and swept everything away.
I only managed to escape with my five children with this mat and for more than five days, my children and I have been living on one pair of wears.
Our condition in the camp here is terrible. We are served meals twice a day with N30 loaf of bread per family and it is only the mother or father that is given. The children and other members of the family are left to share with the parents.
We’ll soon die of hunger –Jonah Obili, 32
I am a driver with Kogi Travellers. I live at Fankolo layout. I am a tenant with a family of 13.
On Sunday we saw the water coming towards our house, so I quickly ran to the office to bring a truck to evacuate my family members and some of our belongings. But when I came, the water was so much that I could not drive through.
So, I hurriedly went to hire a canoe but before I came back, all my properties were gone.
Our major problem here is feeding. The whole family is served N30 loaf of bread for breakfast and a handful of rice given to 13 of us with only five cubes of maggi for three days.
The state government also serves us three sachets of noodles. Please, help us beg the government that we are dying of hunger.
470 of us use two toilets –Abu Ojochogwu (Disabled)
I lost over N2.7million property to the flood and at last, my entire family is facing this disgusting situation.
We were four cripples that the former governor of Kogi, Ibrahim Idris gave money to build our houses but all of them have been submerged. Our problem is feeding and also where to ease ourselves. Here in Adankolo camp, we have over 470 people using two toilets.
And we have special cases because we cannot use our legs like others to go to the toilet. We have to crawl there to answer the call of nature and use the same hand to eat with our family. We are therefore calling on Governor Wada to treat our case differently.
Drugs are inadequate –Onimisi Abdullahin (Camp doctor)
The essential drugs provided by government are grossly inadequate. In fact, we have run out of drugs supply. That is why you cannot see any of the medical personnel on ground because we have been calling and nobody seems to answer us.
Honestly, government is trying but the only problem now is coordination. Those who are to attend to us are either in Idah or Ibaji.
Right now, there is no epidemic. We had curtailed two cases of outbreak and there is no threat whatsoever now.”
Banda, a village within the Lokoja axis, is plagued with hardship and penury. Inhabitants make a living ferrying people across the rivers or selling food and sachet water to travelers. With N100, one could cross to Okwuni which is sandwiched between Banda and Sarkin Numa rivers. With N500, one crosses to Lokoja by canoe. Over 1,000 trucks have blocked both ends of the road, including the Okwunu axis. The situation on ground is confusing and disturbing. Many are stranded and in search of a way out of their predicament. The road may not be passable anytime soon and the government has engaged Gitto Construction Company to create an alternative .
On arrival in Banda, a traveler has to take a bike to a point where a canoe would ferry him to Okwuni end of the road. Thereafter, a traveler would engage the services of a motorcyclist to another point at the end of Okwuni to cross over to Sarkin Numa in a canoe. Each crossing by canoe costs N100 and okada operators charge between N100 and N200.
Arriving at Sarkin Numa was a different experience after parting with N150. Sarkin Numa is the popular stop-over point in Lokoja where people eat and transact business. It has become a shadow of itself. eateries have shut down.
Cholera epidemic looms
An okada operator, Joseph Daniel, a native, said he used to make between N2,500 to N3,000 daily, but since the flood took over the area, he now makes between N500 and N1,000 daily. Daniel said in pidgin: “The flood don deal with me no be small tin. Even now, e still dey come. All of our property, we don pack am out. The situation bad o.”
He revealed that the situation has taken a new dimension with the children in the area falling ill. “The dirty dey affect the children. Even day before yesterday, some children sick. Dem dey vomit, dem dey shit and their body dey hot,” he revealed.
As usual, Lokoja became hot and a little bit unbearable during the visit.
Road rehabilitation
The Minister of Works, Mike Onolememen had said the road would be re-opened this weekend, but that’s not possible considering the magnitude of the devastation. Gitto, the only construction company seen on site at the time of visit, was busy creating an alternative route. A labourer with the company, Matthew Ibrahim, said “since the incident, Gitto has been doing its best to ensure that the road is rehabilitated.”
The Koton-Karfe experience
Koton-Karfe is not in any way different from Banda and Okwuni in terms of flooding, but It’s now home to over 3,000 hapless and displaced persons from about seven villages around it. Nineteen of these are pregnant women while some are children. At the Local Education Authority Primary School, where some displaced persons are sheltered, the Rescue and Disaster Management Officer, Ismail Musa, said his team started work on September 23, 2012. “Right from the initial stage, we have been helping people affected from neighbouring villages like Akpaku, Asara, Ashaba-Ozi, Adamogu, Kasmir and Obagende. We sent our officers to assist victims to the camp. This is just one of them.
“Some people have volunteered to give them sachet water, garri and rice which is not even enough. The source of their water is too bad. They get water from the flood but people are assisting them with sachet water.”
“The situation is very terrible. All these classrooms have leaky roofs and some of them have no windows”, he said
Usman Mohammed, a politician and one of the displaced persons who spoke on behalf of others said they lacked accommodation. “We are all crowded-up in rooms; many people are in a girls’ school, and others are in another camp at Okpaka and in Jamata. Even after the flood is gone, we will still face hardship because our farms and crops are gone.
I felt like cryin when i read through this passage. What a sadonic & lucubrious situation. God please whatever is the caus we dont want to know, rather help our brother & sisters because the Governments help is insuficient & unadentified. Oh cormforter of the aflicted, pray for us.
God will save us
It is a pity. Accept my heart felt sympathy. Nigerian gvt is not good in disaster management, i wonder what they will do this time around. Take heart and pray to God for salvation. It is terrible indeed.
Its really bad…where is the state government…and federal government…i guess they are on top of the situation as usual…
Whenever the Isrealites turn their back against God, He allows trouble, sorrow and pestilence to overwhelm them. Fellow Nigerians, this is God speaking to us- the flood, the bombings, the kidnappings etc. Lets reflect and go back to God in true repentance. God is God!
The people are not refugees but IDPs – Internally Displaced People and the Camps; IDP camps.
What a challenge!I suggest dat diz pple be taken 2som cities in 9eria where pple of gudwil can help in anyway
God help us!
I am pleading on behalf of the people that their houses have been destroyed by the flood that the federal and state governments should assist them appropriatelly with more food, and better shelter to avoid epidemics .May almighty prevent us from this type of calamity (ameen)
yes is God’s doing, do you think killing God’s children in the place of worship, mean nothing?
Almighty God is not a man, kogi people have done enough.let them go down on there knee and ask for God mercy,
Where are our nigerian milliornaires? Where are our National Awardees? Where are d Adenugas,Dangotes,Otedolas, IBBs,Obasanjos? Dis is the time to show their worth to this helpless brothers/sisters/children/fathers and mothers/grandpa and grandma of ours. Just like d Bill gates and d warren buffets does to their own in their country.
A natural disaster! Who’s to blame? May God raise more helpers, and may His mercy,see the victims, through this tribulation.
Bob G you echo my own thoughts. But I am not surprised. Our rulers have never cared about us. They are armed robbers assisted by equally corrupt Police and Judges to steal the country’s resources but spend it in oyinbo countries. We Nigerians MUST have a revolution! Our rulers will never ever change until we PUSH THEM ALL OUT. The people must NOW do something for themselves. We have nothing to lose. Are we not already dying daily through floods, bad roads, no traffic management, empty hospitals, expensive food, non-existent housing, no electricity, no tap water, no jobs, no hope? We are cowardly and that is why our rulers laugh in our face as we and our loved ones die daily and in terrible pain. We are not living in Nigeria. We are dying in Nigeria. Come on people. Let’s march and go on long term strike. The oyinbos will leave because they also are here to steal. Everything will shut down and our rulers will become scared and will either leave Nigeria (with their stolen loot) or be forced to use the nation’s money to develop the country. We must apply daily pressure because to date our rulers do not care about us. The bus boycott in 1960s USA lasted over a year before Martin Luther King and civil rights fight had success. We must keep up the pressure for months on end if we want to see a change. Otherwise my people, we will continue suffering and dying, and our rulers will continue laughing and stealing. The ball is in the Nigerian people’s court. Either WE do something or shut up and continue dying. There is no Holy book that says we must tolerate rulers who are robbers. This Nigeria does not belong to our rulers. Let’s remind them of this NOW or continue dying. GOD is a GOD of justice. He cares for the poor, the weak, the widow and the orphan. The oppressed. Not the rich thieving rulers!
What a wonderful piece bidding, u have captured and said it all GOD BLESS U DEAR
The fed.govt.nd the so called rich men nd women in this country should have the fear of God nd intervene thereby sending relief material 2 help d innocent men,women nd d children who are stranded in Lokoja(kogi state).we hav no any other place dan dis country,we should reflect dat we will all die somday.
WHETHER THE SO-CALLED ELDER STATESMEN AND SENIOR CITIZENS KNOWS THE EXPECTATIONS OF THEIR TITLES IS ANOTHER THING.
Good people of Nigeria now is the time, day, week, month and year to show love to mankind, don’t forget whatever u do to ur fellow human being u are doing it to God Almighty…?show love to mankind.
Our own rich people in Nigeria only spent their wealth where they wil get favour frm useless PDP led govt, why their source of ill-gotten wealth is frm d nation treasury. Stupid Dangote, Otedola, Obasanjo, IBB, Atiku and d rest. Until what J.J Rawlings of Ghana did 2 selfish rich Ghanian was done in Nigeria if nt, we’ll continue 2 go backward while other part of d world are progressing.
what have the civilians done to deserve this unbearable situation? A country where good news is a thing of the past. Who knows what next after this flooding, earthquake?land slide?or volcanic eruption.God is our vindicator
This our nigeria are turn up side down let governmet look over it before peoples we die on it. Thanks.
i wish the entire state will be wiped out to pay for the souls murderd in the deeper life church in kogi state few months ago. this is just the beginning.
were will u see them people who think that if the die, the will buri them with money
Governor Godswill obot akpabio is de man i can trust as long as this kind of situation is concerned but i cant reach him,this man is the man of the people,so am appealing to any Akwa-ibom man who can relate with this man of the people to do so an without delay bcos this people are seeying hell on earth.pls AKWAIBOMITE let us rise to our feet an be our brothers keeper an the blessing of God shall be ours anen.
This happenings calls for Gods divine intervention.This is also a time to show love to those in difficulty.Use ur wealth to please God by helping this our brothers nd sisters.
God is punishing the bokoharam soil for all the blood shed of innocent people..indirectly you are all paying the price…am sorry for the infants God will see you through!
It is very sad that in a country full of milk and honey, people are languishing this way. We must pray for divine intervention of God’s mercy over this nation before the situation becomes unbearable. Please, Govt and those of good will should do something to alleviate this horrible condition.
May Allah ease n calm d situatn 4 us.we’re indeed,in need of His divine asistans.
Are there no phylantropist in Nigeria,why Garri and pure water on people displace by flood,God will help us all
Oh! God dis serious. Plz fed. Govt shud try n look into diz mata. Bcos d situation is nt sumtin 2 write home about. D Minister of Works, Nema, state govt n odas shud come 2 diz pple’s rescue.
THE LORD IS THEIR STRENGTH.
@ BOB G & MUSTAPHA PUT UR TRUST IN GOD NOT IN MAN. GOD WILL NOT FAIL U BUT MAN WILL FAIL U. MY PRAYER IS THAT GOD WILL COME TO THEIR RESCUE.
Everytime i remenber that i am a nigeria,i cry.we are about to celebrate our 52 years of shameful independent.with noting to show for it,is any of the idiot that seat in the power house in anyway affected with any of this?NO.we dont need the likes of IBB,Dangote,Adenuga and the other big thief’s to make life better,it just that we have not suffer enough decide on what to do,or how to go about it.we have a lot of resources to make life better for all,but all this is just been shared between the people we trust and called our leaders.
it is not a new thing to say that our leaders are suffering for leadership amnesia. since if any of them that assumes office will immediately forget the plight of the poor masses. the long predicted rain fall in Nigeria was not taken care of. Imagine the removal of fuel subsidy and other things bedeviling Nigeria. all these show laziness among our leaders and nonchalant attitude to ‘the call to serve’. to my dear victims may GOD, ALLAH and CHINEKE be your strnght.
We should not insult our elders b‘cos of some natural disaster. If u have a heart of giving or helping to save d situation, pls do. Only God can repay our kind gesture.
Our past and present leaders had wasted and continue to waste the life of innocent people due to the lack of poor insight. None of them had ever thought of building a fortified safety to prevent the flooding of this water. This flood disaster is a reflection of carefree on the part of our FG. Our FG do not do what is reasonable almost all the times. However only a stupid and foolish bloke will defend the FG in such fatal disasters. This interjection is not a destructive but of course a constructive advice to FG.
Kogi gays pray to God & he will see u through.
I personally went thru the road via ferry when going to Benin and I paid N12,000 for a car against the N5,000 said in the above story…this was after 4hours of queuing on the 27th Sept. 2012 and returned yesterday 29th Sept. 2012 to follow the newly constructed diversion between 10:55am and 3:39pm still had to wait for more than 4hours 30minutes before we could eventually pass the badly constructed diversion…what are we talking about…? Some Nigerian Officials are liars, deceivers and can’t take small responsibility for the country they swear to protect and work for and are being paid for. There was no good food to eat as we wait. Police were busy taking Bribes from other Big Men who just arrived so they cud pass them quickly as soon as the road is open thereby disregarding d rule of ’1st to come…1st to go.’ Alldsame, it was an experience…horrible one though. Minister of Works, Commissioner of Works in Kogi State, All Department of Works and even FERMA should go there and make a way for people to pass…WORKS is not in the Office and with papers and signing of Contracts only rather WORKS is done on d road.
Your comment is awaiting moderation.
I personally went thru the road via ferry when going to Benin and I paid N12,000 for a car against the N5,000 said in the above story…this was after 4hours of queuing on the 27th Sept. 2012 and returned yesterday 29th Sept. 2012 to follow the newly constructed diversion between 10:55am and 3:39pm still had to wait for more than 4hours 30minutes before we could eventually pass the badly constructed diversion…what are we talking about…? Some Nigerian Officials are liars, deceivers and can’t take small responsibility for the country they swear to protect and work for and are being paid for. There was no good food to eat as we wait. Police were busy taking Bribes from other Big Men who just arrived so they cud pass them quickly as soon as the road is open thereby disregarding d rule of ’1st to come…1st to go.’ Alldsame, it was an experience…horrible one though. Minister of Works, Commissioner of Works in Kogi State, All Department of Works, NEMA and even FERMA should go there and make a way for people to pass…WORKS is not in the Office and with papers and signing of Contracts only rather WORKS is done on d road.
May God help us
Nigerian leaders should hear all the voices of all who have spoken. The main message in all the views expressed is that the people are not happy with the way things are run in our country. Nigerians want a country they can proudly call their home, and the leaders must rise to the responsibilities of the various positions they are occupying. May God bless this land, and help the leaders use their positions to touch positively the lives of the people. To the people of Lokoja as your city is flooded, we ask the Lord to calm the flood and touch the hearts of the good people of Nigeria to show concern to you. This is a time for fellow feeling. Let the NGO’s and private individuals who are good-spirited take the pains to help in the ways possible. Thanks
My heart goes out to our brothers and sisters in Kogi state. I pray that the government will reach out to the people fast before more casualities. Please adher to warning and save your life and the properties can be regained once there is life.
Lets be more creative. NEMA & NGOs shd create opportunity 4 ordinary pple who want 2 make material contribution howeva small. Lets be our brodas & sisters keepers.