Many residents still trapped in Borno flood disaster, says Ndume

Mohammed Ali Ndume, senator representing Borno South has called on the federal government to dredge communities affected by flooding to rescue residents who had been trapped for the past seven days in the devastating flood disaster in Maiduguri, capital of Borno.

Ndume made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday having donated N50 million to the victims.

He urged the federal government to come to the rescue of the residents to end the suffering the victims had had to endure and ensure another doesn’t occur in the future.

“What the federal government needs to do is to come and do the survey and get dredging equipment and get to the discharge of the Alau Dam and try to excavate the water way out so that the water can flow and go otherwise the aftermath will be more disastrous.

“Most buildings that were submerged are not strong, and if they continue to stay in water, they will collapse. Most people trapped in their communities are still there because it is only boats that the Nigerian military, other security agencies, and the state government are using to rescue people there,” Ndume said.

“I am using this opportunity to move a motion since we are on recess for the federal government to intensify action against the plight of the victims of the insurgency,” the federal lawmaker added.

According to reports, the Maiduguri flood disaster has led to the death of at least 37 people with almost half a million residents displaced while many are yet to be rescued.

Farmlands have been destroyed and prisons where arrested bandits were kept collapsed as a result of the heavy floods.

The flood was caused by the collapse of the Alau Dam in Maiduguri, the capital of Borno in just a week today, but aid from countries and donations from business groups and political individuals have begun to trickle in.

President Bola Tinubu approved the sum of N3 billion as intervention fund to cushion the effect of the disaster. In the same vein, Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote donated over N1 billion in aid to support victims of the flooding communities.