Delta flood victims get deadline to quit `illegal’ camp

Governor of Delta State Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan

 More than 300 persons displaced by flood in coastal communities such as Oko, near Asaba, in Delta, have resisted Delta Government’s attempts to relocate them to flood victims’ camps in Asaba.

The people, who are taking refuge at some unaffected areas at the Asaba end of the River Niger Bridge, claimed that they could not abandon some of the belongings, which they had salvaged from the flood.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the people are living in makeshift homes built with materials such as cement bags, mats, wood, and discarded roofing sheets on both sides of the bridge.

From their new abode, the people still go fishing on the fringes of River Niger with nets and canoes.

NAN also reports that the Delta State Government had made four attempts to relocate the people, through persuasion and threats of forced evacuation, all to no avail.

The displaced persons insisted that the only condition that would make them to move to the camps was if they were allowed to move with their belongings, which included beds, chairs and electronic items.

Furthermore, at the people’s meeting with the state Commissioner for Bureau for Special Duties, Dr. Tony Nwaka, who coordinates all the camps set up for flood victims, it was resolved that the “Bridgehead camp’’ should remain for the time being.

However, the government gave the people a December 15 deadline, after which they would either join other flood victims in designated camps or return to their communities.


Source: Thenation