Flood submerges Makurdi •700,000 rendered homeless.

The release of water from the Ladgo Dam in Cameroun has continued to wreak havoc in Nigeria as over 700,000 persons have been rendered homeless and more than 300,000 houses submerged in Makurdi, the Benue State capital. Affected communities include Kutcha, Gyado Villa, Udges Quarters Extention all on Makurdi- Gboko Road as well as Rice mill area of Wadata. When Daily Sun visited the areas yesterday, people were making frantic efforts to salvage their belongings while several others were stranded not knowing where to go. Mrs. Terver Gbeda, a mother of three who lives about eight kilometres away from the River bank is one of the victims of the water surge. According to the confused mother, the water which began to rise Sunday morning had continued with houses submerged forcing people to vacate their homes.
“When the water started rising on Sunday morning, everyone in the area thought it would soon subside. Instead, it continued to rise more and more. My house is about eight kilometers away from the River bank but the water has risen to chest level.” The story of Mr. Romeo Dajoh and Tyor Michael was not different as they were also trying to rescue what was left of their property and move them to safer areas of the state. Dajoh, however, decried Federal Government’s lackadaisical attitude at tackling issues that affect the people, saying if the River Benue had been dredged before now, the effect of the flood would have been minimized.

Meanwhile, Benue State Governor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam, who visited the affected areas on Monday evening for an on-the-spot assessment sympathised with the victims and promised to relocate them to a community school in Makurdi. Few weeks ago, the Benue State Government had advised those living close to the River bank to relocate to safer areas to avoid flooding of the area.