By Ummi Ismaeel,
Minna
Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), Niger State branch, has appealed to the state government to come to its aid and save shops and business premises from flood.
The plea came at a time Niger State government said it had set aside N684.3 million for the resettlement of Ketso and Muregi communities whose homes and farmlands had been washed away by recurrent flooding.
Chairman of the association in the state, Mallam Mohammed Suleiman Yaro, in an interview, lamented the deplorable condition of the Keteren-Gwari mechanic village, which he said, was being washed away by flooding.
Mohammed said that all efforts by the association in the past to save the area from the disaster yielded no results as the recent torrential rains washed away large chunk of the mechanic village.
Members of the association, according to him, have tried on their own to safeguard their business concerns from erosion menace ravaging the area but the intensity of the recent flood was so high that some members were about losing their shops to the nearby river.
“We are appealing to the state government to come and help us because the damage is beyond our capabilities. Part of the mechanic village is taken away by this river.
“We tried to prevent it but the magnitude of the recent flood is very high and that is why the gullies you are seeing as evidence of the magnitude of the flood”.
The state NATA chairman said that there were fears among members and people living within the vicinity that the entire Keteren-Gwari mechanic village and surrounding communities would be washed away if nothing was done and urgently too to safeguard lives and properties.
Meanwhile, Niger state government said it has earmarked N286.3 million and N398 million, respectively, for the resettlement of Ketso and Muregi communities whose homes and farmlands had been washed away by recurrent flooding.
State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Idris, disclosed this while briefing journalists on efforts made by the state government to alleviate sufferings caused by perennial flooding ravaging most riverside communities across the state. The commissioner, who however advised citizens living along flood-prone areas to relocate to upper lands to avoid being washed away by flood, said the state government would help flood victims start life afresh.