Bayelsa Community Cries For Help Over Flooding
2 min read
John ODHE, Yenagoa
The people of Elemebiri community in Sagbama Local Government Area of Bayelsa state have cried out to the state and federal governments to come to their aid as they battle with landslides, coastal erosion and flooding which are currently threatening the existence of the ancient community.
Elemebiri, the last community bordering Bayelsa and Rivers states on the northern axis of the state, has suffered an age long ecological problem which has posed serious threat to the livelihood of the inhabitants.
The community is the hometown of a former Secretary to the Bayelsa State Government (SSG) Senator of the Second Republic, Senator Felix Oboro.
Our reporter who visited the natural disaster ravaged community found out from the natives that many farmlands and residential buildings had been washed away by the surging coastal erosion and landslides as well as perennial flooding.
A community leader, Mr. Johnson Otobo, who spoke to our reporter, described the yearly flooding of the community as a big problem which needs urgent attention from all relevant government interventionist agencies like the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and its state counterpart, the Metrological Agency of Nigeria among others.
He said “many people have been displaced while farmlands have been destroyed and the community cut off from neighbouring communities. We need the help of Governor Douye Diri and all the relevant authorities. We are suffering. We no longer have food to eat.
“Let the state and federal governments come and do environmental impact assessment on Elemebiri community and know exactly what we are passing through so that they can take urgent necessary action to prevent our community from going extinct.”
