In a move to mitigate the pains of victims of recent Borno flood disaster, Senator representing Borno South,
Mohammed Ali Ndume, has made a donation of N50 million.
The former leader of the Senate in a statement issued in Abuja also dropped the hint of collaboration by leaders and other stakeholders from his senatorial district to raise funds for the victims.
Residents of Maiduguri, Borno state capital whose households were submerged by Alau Dam collapse are now taking shelter in Internally Displaced Persons Camps and makeshift centres put in place by the Borno State Government.
The Lawmaker who appealed to the federal government to consider the flood disaster a national issue and create emergency feeding centres for the victims, also called on the Corporate Nigeria to offer assistance.
He noted that to avert the humanitarian crisis resulting from a high level of displacement of citizens who are still surging the IDP camps, the federal government should proactively collaborate with the state government and make food available by opening up a bigger feeding centre by contracting volunteers.
While he maintained that the magnitude of the destruction done by the flood to the lives and property of citizens was more than what the state government alone could handle, Senator Ndume equally solicited for the support of wealthy Nigerians, NGOs and good-spirited citizens to support the Borno State government in addressing the social -economic impact thrown up by the flood in Maiduguri and its environs
The Borno South lawmaker further urged the federal government to open makeshift medical centres that will cater to the health needs of victims in the interim.
He declared that such an urgent intervention will help affected residents who are currently camped in IDP centres in Maiduguri.
He said: “The Alau Dam collapse is not just a Borno issue, but a national disaster. I have never seen this kind of overwhelming disaster. I think it will be a herculean task in a couple of days and even weeks for this situation to return to normal. Most houses would not survive because they had been submerged, and the foundations had weakened.
“I am calling on all Corporate Nigerians to rise up and support because the government can not do it alone. 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.
“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 more disastrous.
“Most buildings that were submerged are not strong, and if they continue to stay in water, they will collapse. 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.
“I am using this opportunity to move a motion since we are on recess for the federal government to intensify action against the plight of the victims of the insurgency.”
