Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, representing Borno South, has called on the federal government to dredge flood-affected communities in Borno State to facilitate the rescue of residents still trapped.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, Ndume highlighted that many residents are yet to be rescued from their flooded communities.
The flooding, which struck Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, last Tuesday, resulted in fatalities, displacements, and the submersion of houses and farmlands following the collapse of the Alau Dam.
In response, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu approved a N3 billion intervention fund to mitigate the disaster’s impact.
Senator Ndume, who donated N50 million to flood victims, emphasized the urgency of the situation: “We really need to help make sure that people do not continue to suffer.
Some of them have been in their houses for the last six days.”
He urged the federal government to conduct a survey and deploy dredging equipment to clear the waterway from the Alau Dam.
“What the federal government needs to do is to come and do the survey and get dredging equipment and get to the discharge of the Alau Dam and try to excavate the water way out so that the water can flow and go, otherwise, the aftermath will be disastrous,” he said.
Ndume warned that many of the submerged buildings are structurally weak and may collapse if they remain waterlogged.
“Most people trapped in their communities are still there because it is only boats that the Nigerian military, other security agencies, and the state government are using to rescue people there,” he continued.
Using this opportunity, he moved a motion urging the federal government to intensify efforts to address the plight of the flood victims, especially while the Senate is in recess.
