Family jam IDP camps as Adamawa floods kill 23

The Yelewa Primary School makeshift camp located in the Yola-South Local Government Area of Adamawa State for the victims of the devastating floods on Sunday has been besieged by a large number of children and the elder residents, comprising mostly of women.

While the survivors struggled to adjust to camp life, Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, on Monday in Yola, confirmed that the death toll from the flooding had surged to 23, with many others still missing.

Fintiri who arrived Yola International Airport at 1:45pm  on Monday,  went straight to the affected communities in Yola-South Local Government Area to offer condolences to victims.

At Yelewa Primary school, the governor met with displaced families, expressed his grief, and reassured them of the government’s commitment to provide relief materials to reduce their hardships.

He announced that the state government would immediately set up a technical committee in collaboration with the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency and the National Emergency Management Agency to assess the damage caused by the flood.

“We will constitute a technical committee to carry out a thorough assessment. Based on their findings, we will take concrete steps to assist affected residents,” he stated.

When it was visited the camp at about 10 am on Monday, children, old women, and pregnant women were seen laying on mats in different classrooms that have become their new abode

A man who identified himself as Alhaji Bello Pegi told our correspondent that two of his brothers are still missing after the devastating flood.

“My house is gone. My animals have been swept away by the flood. My farm disappeared with the flood. I’m now empty with no food, no house, and without my brothers,” he cried out.

Narrating her own ordeal, a young woman who was sighting eating with her four-month-old baby girl on a corridor of a classroom  said that she is yet to believe what she saw last Sunday morning.

“On that night, when the rain started, I went out and put three rubber containers to get some water unknown to me that it was going to result into pains after the rain,” she said.

Also speaking to Arewa PUNCH on Monday, the Executive Secretary of the Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency Dr. Celine Laori said relief materials, both consumables and non-consumables, have been taken to the two Internally Displaced Persons camps in Yelewa primary school and Namtari.

“The Deputy Governor, Professor Keletapwa Faruta has directed that the IDPs in Namtari camp should be moved to Yelewa primary school, since there are enough classrooms to comfortable accommodate the IDPs,” she said.

She further said that earlier this month, in anticipation of the possible flooding of some already targeted areas,  Governor Ahmadu Fintiri had released N700 million to her agency which was used to purchase food stuffs and other materials in preparedness ahead of the flooding season.

She pointed out that both local and international non-governmental organisations were already at the two camps providing both health and other services to the victims.

On the death toll, she said, “What some people are saying are mere speculations. Be patient, I will give you the correct figure after the rescue operation.”

An official of ADSEMA told Arewa PUNCH that there are currently 2,394 IDPs taking shelter at the Yelewa camp and 929 at Namtari camp, bringing the total to 3,223 at the two camps.

The Executive Chairman of Adamawa State Primary Health Care Development Agency Dr. Suleiman Bashir, also on Monday, disclosed that his agency swiftly deployed health workers to temporary camps to deliver emergency services such as immunisation, antenatal care, and treatment of other common ailments.

He urged journalists to help disseminate messages on hygiene, sanitation, and disease prevention, not just during emergencies but as part of ongoing public health education.

“nutrition must be our highest priority in Adamawa State,” he said.

Bashir noted that the agency is partnering with the Child Nutrition Fund to procure Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food but admitted that the coverage remains insufficient.

culled from Punch