\n| <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has issued a critical alert to riverine communities in Nasarawa State, urging them to evacuate to higher ground in anticipation of a looming flood risk. These communities, situated along the banks of the River Benue, face a heightened threat due to rising water levels, exacerbated by the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon.<\/p>\n During a media briefing in Lafia, the state’s capital, titled “Flood Safety Alert,” NOA Director General Lanre Onilu sounded the warning. Onilu, represented by Yusuf Kobi, Director of Planning, Research, and Strategy, emphasized the urgency of the situation, explaining that the rising water levels necessitate immediate precautionary actions to avoid potential disaster.<\/p>\n “We are monitoring flood safety campaigns across the 11 frontline states, including Nasarawa. Our campaign has already begun in Kogi and will continue across Edo, Anambra, Benue, Rivers, Cross River, Adamawa, and Taraba,” Onilu said.<\/p>\n The ongoing campaign, according to Onilu, aims to raise public awareness and encourage communities to take early steps to prevent a recurrence of the devastating floods that struck Nigeria in 2012 and 2022. These past floods resulted in numerous fatalities and the destruction of homes, farmland, and critical infrastructure. To avoid a similar catastrophe, the NOA is urging communities in flood-prone areas to move to safer grounds and take proactive measures to protect their lives and properties.<\/p>\n Onilu thanked key stakeholders for their support and stressed the importance of working closely with traditional leaders, media outlets, and other local influencers to ensure that the flood safety message reaches every corner of the affected areas. “We encourage our officers across the country to gather public feedback on flood concerns so we can present the government with comprehensive reports to mitigate the flood’s impact,” he added.<\/p>\n Priscilla Gondoaluor, the NOA Director for Nasarawa State, echoed the concerns and highlighted the severe flooding challenges the state has faced in recent years. Over the last three years, the state has experienced significant loss of life and property due to flooding. Gondoaluor urged the communities at risk to take precautionary steps, including evacuating vulnerable areas, clearing blocked drainage systems, constructing flood barriers, and preparing emergency supplies such as food, water, and first aid kits.<\/p>\n “All our offices across the 13 local government areas are actively working to spread awareness about flood safety in both English and local languages,” she said. Additionally, she noted that the agency is conducting advocacy visits to traditional and religious leaders to amplify their outreach.<\/p>\n The importance of traditional leaders in this effort was further underscored by Mr. Sunday Namo, the Aren Koron Kuje, a traditional ruler who acknowledged the devastation caused by past floods. He commended the NOA’s initiative, which he said would strengthen the ongoing efforts of traditional rulers to protect their communities. “It is indeed a key objective for traditional rulers to inform and educate our communities on important issues like this flood safety alert,” Namo said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Adenike Lawal The National Orientation Agency (NOA) has issued a critical alert to riverine communities in Nasarawa State, urging them to evacuate to higher ground in anticipation of a looming flood risk. These communities, situated along the banks of the River Benue, face a heightened threat due to rising water levels, exacerbated by the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4693,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50309","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50309","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50309"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50309\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50311,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50309\/revisions\/50311"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4693"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50309"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50309"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50309"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |