Floods: Ortom Begs FG For Financial Assistance

Considering the recent floods that ravaged Benue state, Governor Samuel Ortom on Monday called on the Federal Government for financial assistance, saying no fewer than 21 local government areas were facing ecological problems.
Ortom, who told the Minister of State for Environment, Mr Ibrahim Jibril, who visited Makurdi to assess the damage caused by the floods, decried the devastation and destruction caused by floods in the state.
The governor said the flooding led to collapsed bridges, culverts, roads, destruction to farmlands and houses.
Ortom identified the erosion sites as Guma, Makurdi, Tarka, Gboko, Obi, Otukpo, Ukum, Kastina –Ala, among others.
“We are really handicapped with the situation. We need funds to build massive waters channels and big drains for uninterrupted water flow to River Benue,” the governor said.
The minister, who had earlier called on the state government to implement town planning regulations in order to mitigate flood disaster, said the Federal Government was committed to providing “emergency measures that would evacuate people easily and quickly during disasters. We may not be able to relocate people completely from flood-prone areas but we can provide basic emergency measures to assist victims during disasters.”