No fewer than 300 houses have been submerged in different parts of Kaduna, the Kaduna State capital, as flood water sacked the river-rine areas of the metropolis on Wednesday.
The flood water, which appeared overnight when the Kaduna River was already receding, is suspected to have been released from a dam in Cameroun.
It rendered thousands of people along the riverbank homeless.
The areas affected by the flood include Makarfi Road, Air Force Road, Katunga Road, Ambassador Road and Ononiwu Close, all in Abubakar Kigo Road New Extension of Kaduna metropolis.
Rafin Guza, popularly referred to as Legislative Quarters in Ungwan Dosa and Kudenda all in the state capital were equally affected.
Also affected are highbrow areas like Malali, Ungwan Rimi and Gobarau Road, a mere 100 metres away from the private house of Vice President Namadi Sambo, as well as Bachama Road and Nasarawa areas of Kaduna.
Reacting to the development, Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency (KSEMA), Abubakar Zakari Adamu, in a text message to newsmen said so far about 178 houses were affected.
He said the agency had ordered communities residing along Abubakar Kigo Road in the Kaduna North Local Government, Rafinguza area and Nasarawa in Chikun Local Government to immediately evacuate the areas because of the unprecedented water level at the River Kaduna that may possibly result to more flooding.
He said, “The agency has since notified the affected persons in prone areas of possible flooding so as to enable them take precautionary measure by relocating from such areas.
“Therefore, the residents are to move to the high grounds for the safety of their lives and property.”
Kigo Road area of the metropolis was a beehive of activities, as residents were seen making frantic efforts to salvage their belongings and relocating to high grounds.
In the words of a resident of the area, Oscar Justin: “We have been receiving reports from radio and television that there will be flood, so we decided to send our families to somewhere else.
“We are just waiting for an emergency relief from government agencies to alleviate the situation.
“But as I speak to you, you can see that many people are moving their property; they are taking out as many things as they can save because it is a situation that you cannot predict, the flood stands still but we are praying and expecting that it will subside.
“Water has entered into many houses. It is the duty of government to come to the aide of the people, but since the flood came several hours ago, no government agency has come to see things to be able to help the victims.”
Another resident simply identified as Abdulrazak, said: “My cousin called me that flood has entered his house and that I should come and help him.
“The flood started around 4.00 a.m. Government has been saying that people should vacate the area without providing alternative accommodation for them.
“If you are asking people to vacate, there should be alternative arrangement for them, but there is nothing like that here.
“Where will my cousin go after he had paid N200,000 for accommodation here?
“The irony is that government knows that this is a flood prone area, but it continues to sell the land to the people.
“Government shouldn’t have sold this place since it is prone to flood almost on yearly basis,” he lamented.
Speaking on the situation, former Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Kaduna State, Daniel Bissalah, said, “The only way to prevent future occurrence of flood of this magnitude is for government to talk to people who are working and operating dams to be cautious when they are opening up their dams because most of these dams when they are filled up, water is released from them so that the dams don’t break.
“It is in the process of this opening up that you see most places being flooded.
“Though there was an alert in most parts of the state, but government should look for some mechanism where they can block some of these things because this flood is affecting lives and property.
“I don’t want to believe that it is rain because if it is the normal rain, the flood will not get to people’s houses,” Bissalah noted.
Source:Daily Independent