Peter Duru
19 October 2008
Makurdi — RAINY season is usually welcomed with great joy given the expectations of farmers who normally bask in the euphoria of bumper harvests which rains somewhat guarantee, but this has not been the case with thirty five communities across Benue State who have experienced the visitation of heavy rains that left several of them without shelter nor the basic needs of life.
Properties worth several billions of naira were destroyed and some yet unaccounted for.
This unholy visitation of rain storm on Ogboju community in Otukpo Local Government Area has left it in total ruins with over 500 persons homeless, farmlands and close to 180 houses submerged and in some cases pulled down by the raging storm.
According to Dr. Innocent Onuh, Otukpo Council chairman, who took newsmen round the affected areas in his council, the incident could be described as "hurricane" considering the level of the devastation and the intervals within which the unfortunate incident manifested in the community.
"What has taken place here in Ogboju community could be described as a hurricane, given the wide spread devastation and the manner the entire community was sacked and several farmlands were submerged by the raging storm and the accompanying flood", Onuh said. The storm washed away two bridges in Ofiloko and another neighboring community thereby cutting the communities from the rest of the LGA.
Explaining the reasons for the storm, the council chairman said that for three days the area witnessed heavy rains which led to nearby rivers overflowing their banks and pulling down anything in sight, saying that the devastation was beyond what the council could cope with. He, therefore, solicited for help from well-meaning individuals and NGOs in order to alleviate the pains his people were suffering.
The council boss noted that the loss of the people could be in the range of one billion naira, stressing that the state emergency management agency and NEMA had been contacted on the devastation for necessary action while N500,000 was released by his council for the purchase of the immediate needs of the people.
According to him, he had put in place necessary machinery to ensure that cholera and other water borne diseases do not break out in the affected communities even as he disclosed that he had stocked Otukpo General Hospital with necessary drugs in case of any eventuality.
Onuh stated that on receiving the news of the devastation, he dispatched medical personnel to the affected areas, saying, "My experience as a medical doctor was indeed of a great advantage in handling disaster problems and issues like the one we have in Ogboju and that is why we did not record the outbreak of epidemic in the area given the magnitude of the devastation".
The tour of the affected areas though very difficult, given the terrain and the level of the flooding, revealed that the LGEA and a church in the area were converted as temporary residence and shelter for some of the affected persons who had no relatives to harbor them.
Meanwhile, economic activities have been completely grounded in the area with little or nothing for the people to fall back on as many of the affected person wept, claiming they lost even money kept in homes that were swept away by the raging storm. It was a pathetic sight in Ugboju as the young and old gathered around what was left of their properties.
An elderly man who simply gave his name as Adadu bemoaned the devastation saying that they were lucky not to have recorded any deaths from the storm. Benue State House of Assembly committee on disaster management has also visited the devastated communities.
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