Flood displaces, Blueprint reporter, Nasarawa riverine nieghbourhood
By
Uji Abdullahi Iliyasu
Abuja
Residents
of Oversea neighbourhood in
Nasarawa local government area of
Nasarawa state woke up midnight Wednesday to the sound of falling fences and
houses. Among the victims was this
Blueprint reporter.
The River Nasarawa usually overflows its bank
in the rainy season peaking in September.
But the residents who had been living on the fringes of the bank said
they had never seen the water reaching the level it had reached yesterday.
A
neighbour who is simply referred to as Baban Salaha said he had been living
near the Nasarawa river for up to 45 years, but had not seen nothing like that
of yesterday.
“I
have been living near the river for more than 45 years but we had never seen the
magnitude of today’s flood.
“About
45 years ago, the river bank was as slim as a foothpath, but now it is as wide
as express road with four lanes. I am appealing to the government to help us,”
he said.
Because
the water came in the night the victims lost many household effects and
valuable properties in the flood.
In
May this year, the same river caused a lot of damage to the buildings of
residents who were taken unexpected by the flood.