FLOOD: DEVASTATING TALES OF IDPs IN ANAMBRA

REPORTER: UCHE NDEKE

Flood victims in Anambra State have decried the poor conditions of holding camps provided for them by government.

According to them, close to two weeks since they moved into the designated camps, the supervising agencies including the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Anambra State Emergency Agency (SEMA) were yet to bring them food, forcing them to feed once a day through individual donations.

Radio Nigeria visited some of the flood victims camps and observed that pregnant women and children as well as aged parents were seen sleeping on the bare floor in makeshift camps.

In a bid to save lives, the Anambra State Government, through its Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), designated holding camps and directed flood victims in the affected local government areas to move to the places while they wait for the water to recede.

While some of the victims responded and relocated to the camps, others disregarded the directives and insisted on staying back in the flooded homes.

When Radio Nigeria visited one of the holding camps located in Umuoba Anam, in Anambra East Local Government Area, the condition of the halls housing hundreds of victims were better imagined than seen.

It was a school block converted to holding camp, with broken windows, no insecticide treated net, no source of water, no electricity or generating set.

Nursing mothers, pregnant women, Children, youths were all seen laying on the broken floors with wrapper, nylon bags, sacks and mats while only a few others had small camp foams.

It was gathered that the over 2,000 persons were making use of only two convenient rooms with no bore hole or arrangement for a tanker to bring them water.

One of them, Mr. Emmanuel Okonkwo, who expressed sadness over the condition of the victims, said they were yet to receive anything from the government except what some individuals brought, including food stuffs.

Notwithstanding the provision of foodstuffs, Mr. Okonkwo said they also needed money to buy condiments, kerosene, firewood to make the food, which people would consume once in a day.

An elderly man, Chief Ezechukwu Asapuo, also expressed regret that they were subjected to feeding once in a day after flood destroyed their farmlands and property unlike in their home where they feed three time daily.

“Once in a day they give us food, back in our house we eat as we want. We are hoping that government will bring us food and money. But what can we do, when you are not in your house, whatever they give you, you take,” he groaned.

Another internally displaced person, Mrs. Tina Okeke from Mmiata-Anam, Anambra West Local Government Area said she had been sleeping on the floor with her six children as she recounted their ordeal, which included hunger and mosquito bites at night.

Two other victims from Anambra West, Mrs. Philomena Ekwealor from Mmiata-Anam and Mrs. Grace Ikem from Umueze Anam, appealed for urgent government assistance, especially in the provision of food and medicals to avoid recording death in the camps.

At another camp, CDC Umueri, the story was the same as the women and children clustered in a canopy waiting for beans that was on fire at about 3pm before they would eat their first and only meal for the day.

A camp Coordinator in Umuoba Anam, Mr. Nonso Anizor, while confirming the pathetic situation, appealed to the government to urgently come to their rescue before an outbreak occured in the area.

According to the Camp Coordinator, the local government chairman brought only 30 pieces of mattresses and some food items, which were what the 2,750 victims had been feeding on once a day.

“We have only three toilets for the 2,750 flood victims here, no water, no generator, no mosquito nets, no public power supply, we put candle light for them at night.

The woman President-General (PG) Enugu -Otu Aguleri, Mrs. Juliana Iwuno, said it had not been easy in terms of food, shelter for them, especially the victims at the camp in Ayamelum Local Government Area.

“Some of them sleep on the floor, they don’t have enough mattresses, no mosquito nets, so many of them are sick, we don’t have medical facilities here, so it has been very tough.

“Even the food stuff people are bringing, sharing it has been a very big problem to us. When you have about 1,000 / people to one bag of rice, its not easy at all,” she cried out.

Mrs. Iwuno said that two women gave birth to twin babies at the Father Joseph camp Aguleri, but expressed regret that much care had not been given to them, thereby leaving them at a high risk.

“Federal, State and Private individuals, we need their help, we even need cash, because you can see the women that have put to bed here, they need money to buy baby milk, if you give the women rice, the babies will not eat rice. so we really need help from government,” he lamented.

The President General of Umunankwor Community in Ogbaru Local Government Area, said government brought only eighteen mattresses to a camp in Osamala where about 2,000 persons were taking refuge.

His Counterpart at Anam, Chief Victor Morba, said Governor Professor Chukwuma Soludo promised them that things would start coming very soon but they were yet to see anything one week after the visit.

A victim, Mr. Sunday from Olumbanasaa in Anambra West while commending the Church for their assistance so far, however said they were not comfortable at the Crowther Memorial Primary School, Onitsha Holding Camp complaining that they were poorly fed while the conveniences provided were not enough, forcing people to resort to open defecation.

The Administraive Secretary of one of the camps, Mr. Offorchebe Alias, noted that they had a population of 4,416.

He, however, said the Local Government Chairman brought only twenty mattresses, which were very insignificant compared with the number of victims in the facility.

A medical doctor, Obi John-Peter is in charge of five holding camps with the help of some nurses, a development he said was not the best if the health needs of the victims must be met.

Our correspondent also got the views of the Member Representing Anambra East constituency, Mr. Obinna Emeneka, who decried the level of hardship in some of the camps and called for intervention from both the government and individuals.

“I want to call on well meaning Ndi Anambra to as a matter of urgency, attend to the plight of Anambra East, Ayamelum, Ogbaru, Anambra West. In fact, the riverine areas, we need help.

“We need you to show that empathy, love, we need you to support the state government in the good work they are doing through SEMA to ameliorate the sufferings of the flood victims. It is not something the state government will do alone,” the lawmaker said.

The Deputy Governor of Anambra State, and Chairman Committee on flood, Dr. Onyeka Ibezim, while recounting that the 2022 flood was overwhelming, thanked churches and private individuals for donating items to the flood victims at various camps.

Dr. Ibezim said the camps were having more people than it should, claiming some persons who were not flood victims sometimes get in just to eat food which was difficult for anyone to control.

“So what we have in those camps are actually overflow of people. And one of the major takeaways from the camp is that people from even outside come into the camp to eat and probably go away, at this point what do you do.

“So that is why we have told the council chairmen and then the Ministry of Health and Power to step up their activities.

“And real time the Governor has been coming to their intervention. If you look at the medicals, the drugs and other things at a time were overwhelmed.

“We have to even get more. So I can say these are challenges that we tackle real time. If we hear this, we step up our intervention,” the Deputy Governor said.

The Deputy Governor, however, noted that based on the reports, the government was not relenting in its efforts to give succor to the victims.

This include planning on how to ensure they start life again after the waters must have receded.

“As I’m talking to you, I think the flood is stable and we are planning for the receding because even what is important to us now is the post flood rehabilitation. That’s another stage because everybody there, need to go to their homes, their homes and farms are destroyed.

“NEMA we have received some items like clothings, soaps and others but the food items are yet to arrive. So you can see that it is the state that has been on, managing this with good spirited individuals. I give it to Churches, I give it to Ndi Anambra, who have also come to the rescue of these people in the camps.

“For sometime now, we have been waiting for food items from NEMA as they said their rice and all that which is stucked at Lokoja because of the movement.

“However just like the Governor says, we need to step up our games and plan for the future,” he stated.

As the Federal Government through the Humanitarian Affairs Minister announced that state governments should make efforts to relocate people living in the flood prone areas to a higher ground as more flood was expected in the coming weeks, the people are therefore calling for urgent attention for those, who are already affected by the disaster.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU