Thousands of residents across Yenagoa, Ogbia, and Sagbama local government areas in Bayelsa State have been displaced following the worst flooding the region has seen in over a decade, according to community leaders and state emergency management officials.
The floods, triggered by weeks of heavy rainfall compounded by the release of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon, have submerged homes, farmlands, schools, and health centres across no fewer than 40 communities.
Chief Ekiyor Fubara of the Ogbia Traditional Council told Naija Delta Voice: "We are sleeping on rooftops. Our farms are gone. Our children cannot go to school. We have been forgotten by those who collect oil money in our name."
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has deployed relief teams to some affected communities, but residents say the response is grossly inadequate. Bags of rice and noodles have been distributed, but many families are yet to receive any assistance more than two weeks after the floods began.
Environmental groups have renewed calls for the Federal Government to fast-track the completion of the Bayelsa Ring Road and drainage infrastructure projects, which they say would significantly reduce flood vulnerability across the state.
The Bayelsa State Government has declared a state of emergency in the worst-affected LGAs and has appealed to the National Assembly to release emergency funds from the Ecological Fund for immediate deployment in the Niger Delta.
As of publication, the death toll from flood-related incidents in Bayelsa has risen to nine, with dozens more hospitalised for water-borne diseases including cholera and typhoid.
