It was sheer bedlam yesterday as hundreds of vehicles and travellers got stranded at Banda, a community near Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, after River Niger overflowed its banks, effectively cuttin
g off the southern part of the country from the north.
Movement of vehicles and passengers coming from both sides was stalled, exposing commuters to various dangers.
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) finally announced the closure of the Lokoja-Abuja highway yesterday to ensure the safety of road users.Our correspondent, who visited Banda and Jamata, where the flood submerged the highway, confirmed that the high level of water could not allow vehicles, even articulated ones, to ply the road.
Also, due to the narrowness of the road and the huge number of vehicles, stretching about 30 kilometres to Lokoja, no vehicle could make a u-turn, which was the same with the Jamata to Abuja axis of the road.
Passengers had to disembark from their vehicles, esppecially those coming from Abuja to Lokoja, and then cross the River in canoes or speed boats and then board commercial motorcycles to Lokoja.
Some passengers from the Southern part of the country, who spoke to Blueprint, said they got stranded in Lokoja since Friday night when they were told that the only major road to the North had been submerged by flood.
They lamented that some of them don’t have enough money on them and there was no way they could turn back because of the heavy traffic.
Already, the flowing river has crossed the main road and continued to submerge more houses on the other side of the road, and several residential buildings, schools, churches and hotels along the bank, have also been submerged by the flood.
At Kabawa, the situation was the same as people used canoe to cross the river to safety, while motorists and Okada riders had to look for an alternative route.
Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Kogi state command, were working round the clock to make sure that vehicles do not plunge into the river.
As the devastating flood in Lokoja and the surrounding towns enters its second week, no fewer than two million people were said to have been affected.
The North-central coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Ishaya Isah, disclosed this at the weekend when Senator Smart Adeyemi and other National Assembly members from the state paid a visit to St. Luke’s Primary School, Adankolo, Lokoja, which has been turned into a relief centre.
According to him, nine local government areas in the state, with close to 350 communities, have been destroyed by the ravaging flood. Some of the affected local councils are Lokoja, Kogi, Ibaji, Igalamela, Ajaokuta, Ofu, Omala, Olamaboro and Idah.
Isah said the three relief camps in the state capital have so far consumed close to 300 bags of rice and other materials. He called on corporate bodies and individuals to assist the victims.
On his part, Adeyemi has promised to mount pressure on the relevant agencies to stop the release of water from other dams due to the havoc caused by the flood.
The senator, who came to the state capital from Banda by canoe, donated N1 million to the relief camps and said he was touched by the plight of victims and promised to be in constant touch with the agency.
While commending NEMA for its prompt temporary intervention, he, however, stressed that their problem goes beyond “rice and food”, urging the agency to look into ways of ameliorating the plight of the victims.
The state government has described the havoc as quite unfortunate.
Special Adviser to Governor Idris Wada on Media and Strategy, Mr. Jacob Edi, while speaking with newsmen yesterday, said the good part of it was that the governor rose up to the occasion promptly.
“It’s important to know that Kogi has not recorded any casualty, largely due to government’s prompt intervention, as well as the citizens listening to their government.
“What the state government did immediately was to create relief centres to accommodate the displaced persons,” he said.
According to him, the Kogi challenge is more compelling, considering the fact that the Abuja-Okene highway is gateway to over 20 states of the federation.
Petrol-loaded tankers are trapped on that road right now.
Wada had directed that Saint Luke’s Primary School, Adankolo, should be designated a temporary relief camp for those affected by the recent flooding of the River Niger and Benue.
The camp, the governor stated, was to cater for displaced persons affected by the flood at Adankolo, Gadumo, Ganaja and Sarikinoma communities in the state capital.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Mr Mohammed Garuba, the Kogi State Sector Commander of the FRSC, as saying the decision to close the highway was to ensure the safety of lives.
He said that the commission arrived at the decision following the continued rise in the water level at the Banda village, two kilometres to Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, adding that the movement of vehicles on the road had become “completely impossible”.
According to him, FRSC officials and some youths, who had been guiding vehicles through the water for the past three days, had been overstressed and could no longer cope with the situation.
He said that the road would remain closed until the commission could guarantee safe vehicular movement.
Meanwhile, officials of NEMA, who had been carrying out rescue operations in Idah and Ibaji local councils said the situation in the area was deteriorating.
One of the officials, Mr Ishaya Choloko, said: “Although some trapped victims had been rescued, so many people are still taking refuge on top of trees’’.
He said that the three boats being deployed for rescue operations by National Inland Water Authority (NIWA) were inadequate, adding that the agency had been contacted to release more boats and equipment to hasten the evacuation of victims.
He said that all the rescued victims had been camped at primary schools in Idah and gave an assurance that NEMA was making efforts to rescue the remaining victims latest by Monday (today).
He explained that no casualty had been recorded so far.
Meanwhile, Governor Idris Wada has visited Idah and Ibaji to assess the extent of damage and to commiserate with the victims of the flood disaster.
He promised that the government would assist them to resume their normal lives.
Movement of vehicles and passengers coming from both sides was stalled, exposing commuters to various dangers.
The Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) finally announced the closure of the Lokoja-Abuja highway yesterday to ensure the safety of road users.Our correspondent, who visited Banda and Jamata, where the flood submerged the highway, confirmed that the high level of water could not allow vehicles, even articulated ones, to ply the road.
Also, due to the narrowness of the road and the huge number of vehicles, stretching about 30 kilometres to Lokoja, no vehicle could make a u-turn, which was the same with the Jamata to Abuja axis of the road.
Passengers had to disembark from their vehicles, esppecially those coming from Abuja to Lokoja, and then cross the River in canoes or speed boats and then board commercial motorcycles to Lokoja.
Some passengers from the Southern part of the country, who spoke to Blueprint, said they got stranded in Lokoja since Friday night when they were told that the only major road to the North had been submerged by flood.
They lamented that some of them don’t have enough money on them and there was no way they could turn back because of the heavy traffic.
Already, the flowing river has crossed the main road and continued to submerge more houses on the other side of the road, and several residential buildings, schools, churches and hotels along the bank, have also been submerged by the flood.
At Kabawa, the situation was the same as people used canoe to cross the river to safety, while motorists and Okada riders had to look for an alternative route.
Officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Kogi state command, were working round the clock to make sure that vehicles do not plunge into the river.
As the devastating flood in Lokoja and the surrounding towns enters its second week, no fewer than two million people were said to have been affected.
The North-central coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mr. Ishaya Isah, disclosed this at the weekend when Senator Smart Adeyemi and other National Assembly members from the state paid a visit to St. Luke’s Primary School, Adankolo, Lokoja, which has been turned into a relief centre.
According to him, nine local government areas in the state, with close to 350 communities, have been destroyed by the ravaging flood. Some of the affected local councils are Lokoja, Kogi, Ibaji, Igalamela, Ajaokuta, Ofu, Omala, Olamaboro and Idah.
Isah said the three relief camps in the state capital have so far consumed close to 300 bags of rice and other materials. He called on corporate bodies and individuals to assist the victims.
On his part, Adeyemi has promised to mount pressure on the relevant agencies to stop the release of water from other dams due to the havoc caused by the flood.
The senator, who came to the state capital from Banda by canoe, donated N1 million to the relief camps and said he was touched by the plight of victims and promised to be in constant touch with the agency.
While commending NEMA for its prompt temporary intervention, he, however, stressed that their problem goes beyond “rice and food”, urging the agency to look into ways of ameliorating the plight of the victims.
The state government has described the havoc as quite unfortunate.
Special Adviser to Governor Idris Wada on Media and Strategy, Mr. Jacob Edi, while speaking with newsmen yesterday, said the good part of it was that the governor rose up to the occasion promptly.
“It’s important to know that Kogi has not recorded any casualty, largely due to government’s prompt intervention, as well as the citizens listening to their government.
“What the state government did immediately was to create relief centres to accommodate the displaced persons,” he said.
According to him, the Kogi challenge is more compelling, considering the fact that the Abuja-Okene highway is gateway to over 20 states of the federation.
Petrol-loaded tankers are trapped on that road right now.
Wada had directed that Saint Luke’s Primary School, Adankolo, should be designated a temporary relief camp for those affected by the recent flooding of the River Niger and Benue.
The camp, the governor stated, was to cater for displaced persons affected by the flood at Adankolo, Gadumo, Ganaja and Sarikinoma communities in the state capital.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted Mr Mohammed Garuba, the Kogi State Sector Commander of the FRSC, as saying the decision to close the highway was to ensure the safety of lives.
He said that the commission arrived at the decision following the continued rise in the water level at the Banda village, two kilometres to Lokoja, the Kogi state capital, adding that the movement of vehicles on the road had become “completely impossible”.
According to him, FRSC officials and some youths, who had been guiding vehicles through the water for the past three days, had been overstressed and could no longer cope with the situation.
He said that the road would remain closed until the commission could guarantee safe vehicular movement.
Meanwhile, officials of NEMA, who had been carrying out rescue operations in Idah and Ibaji local councils said the situation in the area was deteriorating.
One of the officials, Mr Ishaya Choloko, said: “Although some trapped victims had been rescued, so many people are still taking refuge on top of trees’’.
He said that the three boats being deployed for rescue operations by National Inland Water Authority (NIWA) were inadequate, adding that the agency had been contacted to release more boats and equipment to hasten the evacuation of victims.
He said that all the rescued victims had been camped at primary schools in Idah and gave an assurance that NEMA was making efforts to rescue the remaining victims latest by Monday (today).
He explained that no casualty had been recorded so far.
Meanwhile, Governor Idris Wada has visited Idah and Ibaji to assess the extent of damage and to commiserate with the victims of the flood disaster.
He promised that the government would assist them to resume their normal lives.
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