Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo on Thursday ordered the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to urgently supply additional relief materials to all the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps across Delta.
Osinbajo, who gave the charge while addressing the flood victims in the IDP Camps at the Ogbeafore Primary School in the Institute of Continuing Education, Asaba, assured that the Federal Government would resettle the victims after the flood.
He lamented the plight of the victims and commended the state governor, Sen. Ifeanyi Okowa for his timely intervention by setting up the camps to take the displaced persons.
He said that so far, 12 states of the federation have been impacted by flood, adding that four of the states including Delta and Anambra have been declared a national disaster.
“Let me say how very touched I am by just seeing all of you who are here and who have had to be evacuated from your homes and various communities where you live to this place as a temporary shelter.
“This I think underscores the enormity of the disaster here and what needs to be done.
“There is a lot of work to be done, not just by way of providing temporary relief and succour which is going to be done in the IDP camps.
“And we also ask that NEMA move quickly to supply additional relief materials to all of the camps across the state by the end of today or tomorrow.
“The more difficult part which we need to discuss with the state government is how to ensure that when the flooding subsides, we are able to resettle people to bring them back to enable them to continue with their livelihood.
“That will involve helping to resettle those whose farm lands have been submerged to be able to return to their farm lands and those whose livelihood have been disrupted in one way or the other.
“We have to find ways of compensating them so that they can get back to normal life,” Osinbajo said.
The VP said that the federal government and all its agencies would be working with the state government to ensure that lives were protected to ensure that people return to their normal life at the end of day.
“So, we are going to be working with the state and local governments and we will do everything that is necessary to ensure that the sufferings and the pains that you have gone through already are not allowed to continue,” he said.
On his part, Okowa said that he had accompanied the Vice President on a tour of the flood ravaged communities along the banks of the River Niger in the state.
He said that he was glad that the people had decided to leave their flooded communities to seek refuge in the camps, adding that with what they saw, the flood challenge would not be over soon.
“We are likely going to have greater impact in the next few days but we are glad that the Vice President is here to share in our pains and I believe that he also has a lot of good stories coming from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We are very happy that he has found time early to visit Delta following the flooding which has gone through several states now,” he said.
The governor thanked all who had relocated to the camps, adding that as a state government, “we will do all within our powers to make you comfortable and healthy at the period of your stay.
“We pray to God that the water will recede quickly, so that you can return home and for you that have moved down here I want to thank you, safety first before property.
“I want to assure that the state government will be with you and I believe the Federal Government too will be here to lend a helping hand while you are here”.
