No fewer than 1,800 residents of Makurdi, who have claimed to be affected by the recent flood incident in the state have taken over the NKST Church camp which is the designated point for flood victims to request for food items and other pallitaives from the government.
It was disclosed that, as of Tuesday, at the NKST Church’s displaced camp at Wadatta, so many residents of the state who were not affected by the recent flood incident were seen registering their manes at the camp to take relief items from the government.
Speaking with newsmen at the centre, some of the people who visited the camp narrated that their efforts to register with the government were not successful, as officials of the State Emergency Management Agency were not responsive.
At the venue, the state government was seen distributing mattresses, a 25kg bag of rice, and a mosquito net to each of the registered flood victims.
Grace Noah, who stayed at the New Garage in the state capital, explained that the water had taken over her household and property.
She disclosed that her children were currently at home while she had come to the camp to register her name and those of her children but the officials had refused to register her name after they rejected her claims.
She explained that the officials had told her there was no flood incident in her area of residence. She noted that she had asked the officials to go with her to the house to see the level of damage to her household items, but the officials, according to her, refused and insisted there was no such incident in the area.
Another victim at the camp, a mother of four named Favour Terfa, disclosed that the flood water had taken over her compound and destroyed a major part of their belongoongs She noted that the officials of SEMA had refused to attend to the plight of some of the residents who were affected.
She noted that she first visited the place on Monday, but the officials had refused to register their names. She noted that the officials were seen with relief materials such as mattresses, 25kg bags of rice, and mosquito nets, but they insisted they must visit the areas to access the destruction before registering their names.
She further claimed that the officials were seen distributing rice to some of the persons at the venue who got enlisted while the rest were taken away by the officials.
The camp manager, James Iorhumn, who spoke to newsmen at the camp, disclosed that over 2,000 people took over the camp on Monday, explaining that the officials of the state agency, in their assessment, found out that only over150 households were affected by the flood incident, he noted that houses had registered and the palliatives were equally distributed by the officials.
He further noted that between Saturday and Sunday, the agency had captured 150 households that were truly victims of flooding, and we had distributed 150 mattresses, a 25kg bag of rice to each family, and mosquito nests.
He downplayed those complaining, explaining that the agency had told all of them to go to their various houses for assessment, but they all declined. He noted that most of the people had rushed to the venue after they had discovered the government had started the distribution of the relief items.
He noted that the agency had derived some means to identify flood victims. he noted that officials of the agency were out on the streets assessing the areas, that were affected noting that it was the major reason they were advised to return home for assessment. The camp manager noted that those who are truly affected will be given a token which they will bring here and to other camps before they can be registered. The person’s complaint was refused, he said.
He noted some of the persons making claims had been identified to be staying at high lands where flood incidents can not happen, but they have claimed that the incident has affected them, which is not true because they want to get palliatives from the government as a result of the hardship in the country.
The government had advised the residents who were staying close to the water to relocate to higher lands after the federal government had alerted the residents of an impending flood in the state capital.
