By Our Correspondent in Minna
As flood in Lokoja kogi state which sacked hundreds and thousands of families last week gradually recedes, Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), Niger state, branch has appealed to the state government to safe their business premises from flood.
The Reporters,an online publication said that “Save our Soul” (SoS) plea by NATA is coming as state government said it had set aside N684.3 million for the resettlement of Ketso and Muregi communities, whose homes and farmlands have been washed away by recurrent flooding.
The Chairman of the association in the state, Mallam Mohammed Suleiman Yaro in an interview with our correspondent, lamented the deplorable condition of the Keteren-Gwari mechanic village which he said is being washed away by flooding.
Mohammed told our correspondent that all efforts by the association in the past to safe the entire area from the disaster, occasioned by flooding, yielded no desired results, adding that the recent torrential rains had washed away large part of the mechanic village.
Members of the association, according to him, have tried their besy to safeguard their business concerns from erosion menace ravaging the area but noting that the intensity of the recent flood was so high that some members were about losing their shops to the nearby river.
“We are appealing to the state government to come and help us because the damage is beyond our capability. Part of the mechanic village is taken away by this river.
“We tried to prevent it but the magnitude of the recent flood is very high and that is why the gullies you are seeing are evidence of the magnitude of the flood,”he said.
The chairman said there was palpable fears among members and people living within the vicinity that, the entire Keteren-Gwari mechanic village and surrounding communities would be washed away,if nothing is done, and urgently too, to safeguard lives and property.
Meanwhile, Niger state government said it hats earmarked N286.3 million and N398 million,respectively, for the resettlement of Ketso and Muregi communities whose homes and farmlands have been washed away by recurrent flooding.
The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Idris, disclosed this while briefing journalists on efforts made by the state government to alleviate suffering caused by perennial flooding ravaging most riverline communities across the state.
The Commisdioner, who however advised citizens living along flood prone areas to relocate to upper lands to avoid being washed away by flood, said the state government was doing all within its powers to help flood victims start life afresh.
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