Community

Floods Claim Seven Lives in Niger State, Affecting 10 Local Governments

Published

2 months ago

August 9, 2024

Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) has reported that severe flooding across 10 local government areas in Niger State has resulted in seven fatalities.

Alhaji Abdullahi Baba Arah, NSEMA’s Director General, disclosed these figures and emphasized the agency’s efforts to mitigate the impact of the floods during the 2024 rainy season. He urged residents living near the banks of the River Niger and River Kaduna to relocate and cease activities around these areas to avoid being caught off guard by rising waters.

In response to the flooding, the North-South Power Company has initiated an awareness campaign for communities near the Shiroro hydroelectric power plant. Engineer Olubunmi Peters, Vice Chairman and CEO of North-South Power Company Limited, explained that the annual forum aims to educate residents on the environmental risks of flooding and strategies to reduce damage to lives and property.

Peters highlighted the need for effective measures to prevent flooding and suggested using floodwater to enhance agricultural productivity. He also urged stakeholders to collaborate on long-term solutions and emphasized the importance of dialogue in resolving disputes within dam host communities.

Local government Chairmen of Rafi and Munya, Honorable Ayubs Katako and Alhaji Aminu Najume, praised the awareness forum and committed to ensuring their communities are well-prepared for future floods.

Community

Iseyin residents groan over epileptic power supply

Published

3 years ago

May 31, 2021

Online Editor

Some residents of Iseyin in Iseyin Local Government Area of Oyo State have deplored the drop in power supply and total outage in parts of the ancient town.
Some of the residents who spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in separate interviews, said the development was becoming unbearable for them.
A middle-aged business woman, Mrs felicial Bambi, who deploredk the development, said her part of the town has been experiencing epileptic supply for months.
“The last time we had about five hours supply daily in my area was April, we have been using our hard earned resources to generate power, it’s been very difficult.
“I want to appeal to the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC), to please come to our aid and ease this hardship on us, the burden is just too much for us to bear,” she said.
Also speaking, an octogenarian community leader at the Oluwole area, Mr Iyanda Isalu, said that the power situation in Iseyin required urgent intervention.
“Our situation is indescribable now because power is a total stranger to us in most parts of Iseyin now, the worst part of the story is that they (IBEDC) still send us bills.
“The pressure from our people on us (community leaders) is much because they believe that we are not doing enough to ease the hardship on them.
“We have written several letters to appeal and seek understanding of the IBEDC, but all have not yielded any result so far,” he said.
Another resident , Mr Joshua Moses, who corroborated claims of earlier speakers, appealed for a change in the development, stating that more business may die if the situation was not urgently addressed.
“So many of people have closed down businesses, Iseyin is an ancient town, we depend largely on our businesses to survive.
“We are not able to do our businesses without adequate or even average power supply which has now eluded us.
“This is a trying time generally in the country, adding perpetual outage to our problem will not be in anyone’s interest,” he said
Reacting to the complaints, the IBEDC team leader in Iseyin, Mr Teslim Azeez, expressed surprised at the people’s complaint, said that power supply to most of Iseyin town had been well above average. (NAN)