NO fewer than 40 villages have been sacked by flood in Adamawa State, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported.
The Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), Dr Muhammad Sulaiman, confirmed this to NAN on Saturday in Yola, the state capital.
Sulaiman said the development followed downpour recorded in the last three days in some parts of the state.
He said most of the affected villages were on the bank of River Benue, with farmlands and houses 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.
“Now within the last three days, over 40 villages in five local government areas of Adamawa were overrun by flood following torrential rainfall.
“The affected local government areas include Fufore, Yola South, Demsa, Numan and Girei,” the ADSEMA boss said.
He urged the federal agencies and United Nations that promised assistance to the victims of the August flooding to redeem their pledges.
Sulaiman noted that the level of water in the River Benue was high and many villages had been cut off from the rest of the state.
He said that there was possibility of more flooding, adding that officials of the agency had been sent to some affected areas to assess the level of damage.
On the speculations that the recent flood was linked to the release of water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon, the ADSEMA boss said that he was unaware.
“There has been no official communication between Nigeria and the Cameroon government that water is going to be released from Lagdo Dam.
“However, the recent high volume of water in the River Benue is unusual,” Sulaiman said.
Mr 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 that the residents were taking refuge in neighbouring villages, adding that their rice and maize farmlands had been washed away.
“On Friday, we harvested one of our rice farms of about three hectares along the bank of River Benue with the intention of conveying the produce back home on Saturday.
“However, as I speak to you now, our houses have been submerged; we cannot even trace the farm location, because everywhere is flooded,” Gajere said.