Flood: Many Kogi, Kwara residents failed to heed early warning, says NEMA

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says residents of Niger and Kwara felt the effect of the flood because there was no adherence to the early warning. 

According to NAN, Zainab Saidu, head NEMA Minna operations office, said this in a statement to commemorate the 2022 International Day for Disaster Reduction (IDDR).

She said many communities affected along the tributaries of River Niger did not heed early flood warnings contained in the Seasonal Climate Prediction (SCP) and the Annual Flood Outlook (AFO).

“It is, however, disheartening to note that while some people respond to the flood early warnings usually made available early in the year, many others choose to turn deaf ears to these warnings,” the statement reads.

“This is mainly the reason why many people are affected by flood because the communities affected in Niger and Kwara states have continued to be the same with only little variation.

“NEMA in executing its mandate is always in the forefront of initiating activities that will ensure early action is taken to reduce or minimize harm to people, assets and livelihoods.”

She said if NEMA’s effort is accompanied by strict adherence by the people, disasters will be greatly mitigated and losses will be reduced.

Saidu said it is necessary to avoid a recurrence of the 2022 flood disaster.

“The SCP and AFO constitute the flood early warning mechanism to forestall or mitigate flood disaster in Nigeria,” she added.

Speaking on Disaster Reduction Day, with a theme that borders around increasing access to multi-hazard early warning systems, Saidu said it is necessary to make disaster risk reduction information available to people.

She said disaster management is a humanitarian activity that needs all hands on deck to reduce the occurrence of events that lead to the loss of lives and properties.