Help Bayelsa, others – Buhari directs emergency bodies, reveals cause of flooding

 

President Muhammadu Buhari has decried the level of flooding in Bayelsa and other States in Nigeria.

 

He lamented that the flood had caused devastation in 33 States across the country.

 

Buhari directed all federal agencies dealing with rescue and disaster management to provide the needed assistance to the State.

 

Reports by the State government say about 700,000 persons have been displaced in about 300 communities and villages in five of the State’s eight local government areas.

 

However, Buhari blamed the flood on disregard for early warning signals and obstruction of waterways by residents.

 

A statement by Buhari’s spokesman, Garba Shehu, said, “Buhari blamed buildings on water channels, disregard for early warning by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and the changes to weather caused by climate change as chiefly to blame for the floods that have so far hit 33 of the nation’s 36 states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory which has not been spared either.”

 

He ordered all “concerned to work for the restoration of normalcy throughout the affected parts of the federation.”

 

The president expressed his condolences to the families of the victims and all those affected by the flood.