The state governor, Douye Diri, who gave the break in a statewide broadcast on Tuesday morning confirmed that the state was facing humanitarian crisis with over one million persons displaced across Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe and Kolokuma Opokuma local government areas while businesses shut, properties lost and farmlands had been destroyed.
The Bayelsa State government has given its workers seven days’ break as flood ravaging the state continued to wreak havoc across no fewer than eight local government areas.
The state governor, Douye Diri, who gave the break in a statewide broadcast on Tuesday morning confirmed that the state was facing humanitarian crisis with over one million persons displaced across Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe and Kolokuma Opokuma local government areas while businesses shut, properties lost and farmlands had been destroyed.
Diri said that though the flood was a natural disaster that affected many other states of the federation, nearly a million people in over 300 communities in the state were internally displaced while some deaths had been reported.
According to the governor, critical infrastructure like hospitals, roads, bridges and schools, including the state-owned Niger Delta University in Amassoma, the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, and the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, were also severely affected.
He maintained that without exaggeration, the sheer scale of the devastation was not such that the state could handle on its own.
He said, “We urgently solicit the support of Multinationals, International Donor Agencies, the Red Cross, Diplomatic Missions and people of goodwill to come to the aid of our state.
“I appeal to Mr. President to consider special grants to the state from the Stabilisation Fund, Ecological Fund and Natural Resources Fund. Over the last few days, floods have overwhelmed our communities and severely impacted the lives and livelihood of our people. This is a natural disaster that has affected many other states of the Federation to various degrees. I have been on a tour of several of our communities to see at first hand the extent of destruction. Our experience has shown that the flood water empties into our State.
“From my personal assessment, the situation is dire. Nearly a million people in over 300 communities in the State, have been internally displaced. Unfortunately, some deaths have been reported. The narrative is the same across Sagbama, Ekeremor, Southern Ijaw, Ogbia, Yenagoa, Nembe and Kolokuma Opokuma Local Government Areas. Businesses have been shut, properties lost and farm lands destroyed. We have a humanitarian crisis.
“Critical infrastructure like hospitals, roads, bridges and schools, including the state-owned Niger Delta University, Amassoma, the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital, Okolobiri, and the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, have been severely affected. As I make this address, Bayelsa State is completely severed from the rest of the country as portions of the strategic East-West Road, the sole access to and from the state, between Ughelli and Patani in Delta State as well as Okogbe and Ahoada in Rivers State have collapsed with a high volume of flood water occupying the stretch. Economic hardship has set in, as food, medical provisions and energy are now in short supply. The situation is desperate and getting worse.
“I hereby direct all Public Servants except those on essential duties to be given time off from work for the next one week. Let me make a special appeal to vendors, particularly of fuel, food, water and pharmaceuticals not to exploit the situation. We must be our brothers’ keeper.”