Flood: Declare Bayelsa, other states national emergency – Diri tells FG

Senator Douye Diri, the governor of Bayelsa State, has pleaded with the federal government to declare a national emergency about the raging flood that has destroyed lives and property in the state and other states across the nation.

At a Sunday emergency security council meeting held in Government House in Yenagoa, Senator Diri made the request.

According to him, the meeting’s main goal was to strategize with the chiefs of various security agencies in order to evaluate the situation holistically and look for measures to lessen the effects of the natural disaster.

According to a statement released on Sunday by his chief press secretary, Mr. Daniel Alabrah, the governor bemoaned the severity of the floods this year, which he observed had outdone that of 2012.

His words: “This year’s flooding has surpassed that of 2012, which is the highest we have witnessed so far. It has become a security emergency.”

According to Senator Diri, “Bayelsa is below sea level and when the flood comes, virtually everywhere is flooded. Even the Government House is being threatened.”

The state’s governor further pointed out that the flooding had seriously damaged neighbourhoods, residences, and road infrastructure, cutting off the state from its Rivers and Delta neighbours.

“As we speak, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called off its strike. But as universities are opening, our own state university cannot open because the only road linking the university has been broken into three parts.

“The only road that links Opokuma and Sabagreia in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government Area and the only one also connecting Sagbama to Ekeremor that is still under construction has been broken. There is hunger and palpable tension in the state.”

At the Okutukutu and Opolo axis of Yenagoa, the state capital, Diri warned those spreading false information and engaging in protests to stop. They were doing so in response to a water channel project that the state government was undertaking.

He clarified that the project was carried out solely to alleviate the suffering of the local residents who endured flooding every year and not for any other reason.

“Let me also use this opportunity to clear the air on the issue of the Okutukutu and Opolo water channel project that was done last year by the state government to check flooding in that area.

“There is some ignorant narrative out there that it was done to protect the property of some people. The state government did not take that action for any particular interest. This is not the time to settle political scores but a time to be our brother’s keeper. We must all join hands to tackle this problem.”

The security council decided that all security agencies should be included in the state flood committee in order to ensure that the victims receive the aid, according to Mr. Ben Okolo, the commissioner of police for Bayelsa State Command, who spoke after the meeting.

Security would be offered to displaced people in their camps, according to Mr. Okolo.

Additionally, he advised anyone travelling from Bayelsa to the states of Rivers and Delta to postpone their trip till the floodwaters subsided because the road to these states had been blocked.

He claimed that the council had cautioned both criminal elements and petroleum marketers not to further hurt individuals who have already been forced out of their homes by arbitrarily raising the price of their products.