Farmers count their losses as 40 Adamawa villages get flooded

Muhammad Sulaiman, the executive secretary of Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), has said 40 villages in the state are now flooded.

Sulaiman told NAN in Yola, the state’s capital on Saturday, that the flooding is as a result of the heavy downpour recorded in the last three days in some parts of the state.

He said a majority of the affected villages were on the bank of River Benue, with farmlands and houses seriously affected.

“In August this year, we lost 15 persons, hundreds of people were internally displaced, and thousands of farmlands and domestic animals were lost to the flood,” he said.

“Now within the last three days, over 40 villages in five local government areas of Adamawa were over-run by flood following heavy torrential rainfall.

“The affected local government areas include Fufore, Yola South, Demsa, Numan and Girei.”

He urged the federal agencies and United Nations Organisations who promised assistance to the victims of the August flooding to redeem their pledge.

Sulaiman also said that there is a possibility of more flooding, adding that officials of the agency had been sent to some affected areas to assess the level of damage.

Haley Gajere, a farmer from Bilachi village in Demsa local government area, told NAN that the village was completely over-run by the flood.

Gajere said their rice and maize farmlands have been completely washed away while residents are taking refuge in neighbouring villages.

“On Friday, we harvested one of our rice farms of about three hectares along the bank of River Benue with the intention of conveying it back home on Saturday,” he said.

“However, as I speak to you now, our houses have been submerged; we cannot even trace the farm location, because everywhere is flooded.”

NAN reports that the displaced villages in Demsa include Mbula Bilachi, Morro 1, Morro 2 and Mbumara.

Others are Tika 1, Tika 2, Kunteri, Kuli, Tassala, and Kulasala among others.

In Fufore, the affected villages include Riko, Faram-Faram, Gurore Ribadu, Tumbi’nde, Dulo Bate, and Dulo Fulani among others.

Editor’s note: Picture used for illustrative purposes