THE Federal Government has advised state governments and Nigerians living in flood prone communities to take precautionary measures against likely heavy floods, which may result from torrential rainfall, as well as opening of the Lagdo Dam by the Cameroonian authorities as it happened last year.
This warning was given by the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs Sarah Ochekpe, in a meeting with the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, in her office.
According to Mrs Ochekpe, in view of the fact that the Kashimbilla multi-purpose dam being constructed by the Federal Government in Taraba State to reduce the impact of water released from Cameroon was yet to be completed, there was the need for concerted efforts by state governments to mitigate the likely effect of the large volume of water that may be released from the Cameroonian dam at the peak of the raining season.
While stating that Nigeria and Cameroon had reached a level of understanding on how to prevent the occurrence of the devastation caused to Nigerian communities last year, the minister urged state governments to complement the initiative by clearing drainages and evacuating people from flood plains in their states.
It should be noted that major part of Ndokwa –East is along the coast line, and some others like Ndokwa-West are also on low level. These areas where all flooded during the 2012 incident.