The Federal Government has met with all relevant agencies in Abuja to tackle the widespread destruction being caused by floods across the country
During the meeting, the government reeled out the current flood disaster outlook, which revealed that over 500 persons had been confirmed dead due to the floods, 45,249 houses damaged and 70,566 hectares of farmland destroyed, among others.
The Permanent Secretary, of the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sani Gwarzo, who chaired the meeting, told journalists that the government is working hard to address the situation.
According to him, relief has been made available to persons in need, as NEMA had provided relief support to over 315,000 displaced persons across the flood disaster hotspots where state capacities had been overwhelmed.
The permanent secretary said there had been the deployment of vital resources to save lives, adding that the positive outcomes from the field were quite resounding.
Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria has raised concern over the menace of flooding in the country and called on the Federal Government to set up a Presidential Flood Relief and Rehabilitation Committee to cushion its effects on the victims.
The association’s President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh, made its position known in a statement issued in Abuja.
Okoh said CAN was troubled that in the recent flooding incidents recorded in Anambra State, two churches, Madonna Catholic Church in Idemili Iyiowa Odekpe, and an Anglican Church at Obenani, collapsed because of the floodwaters currently pounding Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.
He stated that parishes of Christ Holy Church, particularly in Umueze Anam, Anambra West Local Government and its environs, St. Patrick’s Catholic Church, Ndoni, in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the Rivers State, as well as the branches of many other church denominations located in the swathes of land around the lower Niger River and the coastal states, had been taken over by the worst deluge in living memory.
