- By Mohammed Suleiman, Dutse
Victims of last year’s flood disaster in Jigawa state, Northwest Nigeria, have accused the State Flood Resettlement Committee of negligence in providing them with shelter, food, and water as promised.
The Committee realised N1.7b during the launching of Flood Appeal Fund which was meant to cater for the victims about four months.
Mal. Abdulmumini Usman Karnaya who voiced out the grievances on behalf of the victims in an interview with AFRICA PRIME NEWS, said the victims only heard on radio that monies were being disbursed.
“We only heard from Freedom Radio station that the Committee is making disbursement of money ranging from N1-3m with roofing sheets and cement to couples of few flood affected communities whose damages were far less than ours.
We ‘ve hopping that the committee would bring succour to us but to no avail from the inception of the flooding late last year upto this moment”
Our worry now is that we lack shelter to resettle our families as we are scattered in various places in search of food and shelter, living in isolated areas in fear of this year’s rainy season.
Karnaya stated that during the flood which ravaged the Community settlement at Karnaya an outskirt of Metropolitan Dutse, victims lost most of their houses, foodstuffs, animals among other domestic utensils which were all washed away by flood, leaving them dying of starvation, hunger and diseases.
According to him, they had severally voiced their sufferings to both the Flood Resettlement Committee and visitation of the State’s Relief Management Agency for number of times in search of assistance, but to no avail.
Karnaya further stated that apart from UNICEF, the late Emir of Dutse, Alh. Nuhu Muhammad Sunusi, who assisted them with large consignments of foodstuffs, Gerawa Global Construction Firm, among other good Samaritans, nobody including Jigawa State Government, assisted them in terms of provision of food, shelter, clothes, and water.
UNICEF, he emphasized, erected emergency VIP toilets, sink boreholes in Karnaya IDPs Camp, and provision of medication, while other good Samaritans do assist them with food stuffs, clothes for their families. He said they are yet to receive tangible support from the State’s Flood Disaster Committee, as it pledged.
He called on both State and federal governments, phillantropists as well as NGO’s to come to the aid of Jigawa flood victims as the situation seemingly going to be worst this year.
Karnaya town was the first Community settlement that was submerged by flood amongst the sixteen LGA’S that were affected during last year’s flood in jigawa state.
According to reports, no fewer than 47,450 people were displaced, while ninety eight lives were lost to flood in jigawa state last year.
At the launch of the State’s Flood Appeal Fund, the Chairman, Barr. Bashir Dalhatu had said that they were taking inventory towards supporting the affected victims with shelter, foods beddings among other basic needs as well as resettling them in a more conducive environment, which was yet to be redeemed.
All efforts in reaching the Chairman of the Resettlement Committee, Barr. Bashir Dalhat proved abortive.