Flooding: Bayelsa traditional ruler seeks intervention, says ‘I now sleep in car’

Amos Poubinafa, the traditional ruler of Tungbo town in Sagbama LGA in Bayelsa, says he now sleeps in his car as flood has taken over his palace.

Speaking on Monday in an interview with NAN, Poubinafa said there is no other place safe for him to sleep. 

He said as the leader of the community, he could not leave the area at this time.

“I have been sleeping in my Toyota Sienna for two weeks since the flood ravaged the palace,” he said. 

“It [the flood] reached the knee level and made the palace uninhabitable. The car is the only safe place for me; the entire building is flooded and there is no safer place for me to sleep.

“My family has been relocated to Yenagoa. As the captain on board [traditional ruler] this vessel, I cannot abandon my subjects to seek alternative abode outside the town.

“By my training as a naval officer, I am not expected to abandon the crew I am leading in my vessel. I am expected to be the last man standing.”

Poubinafa said he suffered a similar fate during the 2012 floods, but added that the situation is worse in 2022.

He appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Bayelsa Emergency Management Agency, and other well-meaning individuals to assist flood victims in Tungbo town.

He also called on the federal government to construct dams and dredge Rivers Niger and Benue to end perennial flooding in the country.