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Govt Offices Submerged As Flood Wreaks Havoc In Rivers, Hundreds Of Residents Displaced
Flood is taking its toll on many communities across several local government areas of Rivers State after continual rain fall in the last one week.
The LGAs mostly affected are, Ahoada West, Ahoada East, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Andoni, Port Harcourt City, Obio Akpor, Oyigbo, Akuku-toru, Abua Odua and Ikwerre.
At Igwurita in Ikwerre Local Government Area, the flood submerged nine villages that make up the community.
Many houses including that of the lawmaker representing Ikwerre Federal Constituency, Barrister Boniface Emerengwa, were submerged by the flood thereby displacing many people.
A resident of the area, Gilbert Orlu, who said the flood affected the nine villages that made up Igwurita community, added that properties and food crops worth millions of naira were destroyed and over 300 persons displaced.
He said those affected by the devastating impact of the flood are counting their losses while the state government is yet to come to their aid.
Another resident, John Kono, said all his properties, from electronics, beddings and furniture were washed away by the flood. “We are in pain and still counting our losses,” he said.
“We are just managing to cope with the situation we found ourselves. It’s really bad and we are calling on the state government to come to our aid. The affected residents are crying, the poor masses are crying. We really need help,” he said.
Another victim, Pius Chukwu said: “Everywhere in Igwurita is flooded. It’s not just my own property but other residents too are affected. Properties worth millions of naira have been damaged. Farms, business premises were flooded and properties destroyed.”
The residents however attributed the flood to poor drainage system in the communities saying that water is not properly channeled.
The Councilor representing Igwurita Ward 9 in Ikwerre Local Government Area, Hon. Chindah Wali, said arrangement has been concluded to move the victims of the flood to an IDP camp in the area.
Also in Ahoada West, hundreds of residents were displaced and farm crops and valuable properties washed away by flood.
A resident of one of the flooded communities in Ahoada West, Okpokiri Michael, said many buildings were submerged by flood and the affected residents are still counting their losses.
“This year’s flood caused lots of damage to residents. Many of the residents have no place to put their heads. Houses, schools and farmlands were submerged and hundreds of residents displaced.
“Most of the displaced persons have been moved to the IDP camps while others are staying with relations in areas not affected by flood. We are helpless as we have lost all our belongings. We want NEMA and the state government to assist us,” he said.
At Omoku, Ndoni and other rural communities of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of the state, the story is not different as residents were sacked by flood while properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.
The residents of Eneka, Atani, Nkpolu, Rumuodomaya, Ngboba and the popular NTA road in Obio Akpor Local Government Area are not left out.
The case is the same in Oyigbo as residents of Old Aba/Port Harcourt relate the pathetic story of the destruction of some poultry farms and fish ponds located in area.
A resident, Matar Okere said: “We woke up one morning after a torrential rain to find out that our house has been submerged by flood. I hurriedly carried two of my children out of the compound.
“The whole properties in the house were destroyed. Mine is a double tragedy as my poultry farm was washed off by the flood. I lost over 500 birds.”
Another resident who did not disclose his identity said he lost more than 1000 fishes in his pond and blamed the incident on the ongoing construction of Aba/Port Harcourt road.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State House of Assembly Committee on Environment recently invited chairmen of local government affected by flood to explain the level of their preparedness to the forecast by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) which listed 18 LGAs in Rivers State as flood prone areas.
Chairman of the committee, Dumle Maol, said the invite is for the affected chairmen to explain measures taken so far to tackle flooding in their respective local government councils.
In response, the Chairman of Ahoada, Hope Ikiriko, said the council has prepared four camps to accommodate the flood victims.
He however lamented that most of the internally displaced persons from flood affected communities in the Local Government refused to stay in the camps for fear of insecurity and contacting disease.
He also disclosed that the IDP camps, which are mostly situated in schools, are most times invaded by strangers displaced by flood from neighboring states.
According to him, the council spent N7million in buying mattresses last year but they were stolen.
He appealed to both the state and federal governments to come to their aid.
On his part,chairman of Port Harcourt City Local Government Council, Victor Ihunwo, said he has secured two storey buildings opposite the Mile 3 park in Port Harcourt that would accommodate displaced persons.
Also, the Local Government chairmen of Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Abua/Odual, Eleme, Asari Toru and Ahoada East who appeared before the committee gave insight on their level of preparedness to ameliorate the plight of those affected by the flood.
In the meantime the South- South zonal office of NEMA said it is doing everything possible to inform and educate residents about the danger of living in flood prone areas.
DAILYTRUST
The Lagos State Government has officially announced the reintroduction of the monthly environmental sanitation exercise, set to resume on Saturday, April 25, 2026.
This marks the return of the state-wide cleaning culture nearly ten years after its suspension in 2016.
Residents are expected to clean their surroundings, clear drainage channels in front of their homes, and dispose of waste responsibly as part of efforts to improve environmental hygiene and tackle waste management challenges.
The Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Saturday, disclosed the development in a statement, explaining that the exercise would officially restart later in the year.
“I am pleased to inform all Lagosians that the monthly environmental sanitation exercise will resume effective Saturday, 25th April 2026, holding on the last Saturday of every month from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
“During this period, residents are enjoined to clean their surroundings, clear drainage channels in their frontages, and dispose of waste properly as a civic responsibility.”
Wahab urged residents to view the initiative as a shared duty toward building a healthier city, stressing that the government would ensure strict compliance.
“This exercise is a collective responsibility and a vital part of our commitment to a cleaner, healthier, and flood-resilient Lagos. And it shall be backed with the full enforcement weight of the Lagos State Government,” he said.
Explaining the significance of reintroducing the sanitation culture, the commissioner said the state was returning to a practice that once formed part of Lagosians’ lifestyle.
“Let me formally say this and say it boldly. Mr Governor and his deputy are taking a very audacious step. For those who don’t know, prior to 2016, we had a culture that emphasised cleanliness as next to godliness.
“Once every month, we took our time to clean up our surroundings and then maintain them sparkling. However, for some years, we stopped it.”
He said the absence of the exercise had contributed to mounting environmental pressures in the state.
“Now, waste, debt, and environmental challenges have become an existential challenge to us as a state. It’s taken us over a year to debate, talk, and agree that it’s time to reintroduce a monthly environmental sanitation,” Wahab said.
Appealing to residents for cooperation, he urged Lagosians to dedicate a small portion of their time each month to environmental cleanliness.
“It’s a plea that it is time for us to give up just one or two hours a month. In our marketplaces, every Thursday, we observe environmental cleanliness. But this time, we are saying as a state, let us sit back once a month and observe the cleanliness of our environment as we used to before 2016.”
JomogNews reports that the monthly sanitation exercise, previously held on the last Saturday of every month between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., was suspended in November 2016 following a legal pronouncement restricting movement during the exercise.
The suspension later coincided with growing waste management concerns, including clogged drainage channels and indiscriminate refuse disposal across parts of the state.
President Bola Tinubu has urged the media to extend their scrutiny to State and Local Governments, noting that his administration’s reforms have significantly increased their financial allocations.
During an interfaith breaking of fast with media executives on Friday, the President emphasized that sub-national governments now enjoy greater financial autonomy and should be held accountable for grassroots development.
Tinubu said his administration’s economic reforms, especially the removal of the petrol subsidy, have increased funds available to states.
“We have opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money. But how they use it is in your hands, so don’t bombard me alone. Look at local governments too, and equally, the sub-national,” Tinubu said.
“Today, there is no state that is borrowing to pay the salaries of employees. Yes, we can complain that it is not enough. We can complain we are not where we should be, but we have to manage what we have to sustain today, survive tomorrow, and make progress”.
Tinubu commended the media for criticising his government, saying it challenged and provoked him to serve Nigerians better.
“Thank you for inspiring me and challenging me in critical moments of my life. If I look at various barrages of negative comments as opposed to positive aspects of the assignment, I shouldn’t be standing here. That is the truth,” the president said.
“You didn’t spare me, but you challenged me, provoked that intellectual curiosity of a leader that must perform. There is no morning that I ever leave my house without going through the newspapers. It’s an addiction. I read all of you, it might not be in full detail, but the headlines, the ones that hit me.
“Leadership is about taking responsibility to make decisions at the right time. Otherwise, it’s a failure. At the time, we had to confront the subsidy. Nigeria was on the verge of bankruptcy.
“But having asked for the job and getting it, I cannot look back other than make corrections as I move along, save the nation, bring it back from the brink. Today, I can stand proudly before you that we are back from that brink.”
Tinubu added that he will continue to do his job with “patriotic dedication” to improve Nigeria.
A prosecution witness, Captain Ezekiel Bala-Agaba, testified in a Lagos Federal High Court on Thursday, that he personally delivered $15 million in cash to former NIMASA DG, Patrick Akpobolokemi.
The witness, Bala-Agaba, a former Executive Director of Maritime Safety, Shipping Development and Marine Operations at NIMASA, made the disclosure while testifying before Justice Ayokunle Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos.
Captain Agaba, who appeared as the 15th prosecution witness, told the court that funds meant for pipeline surveillance were withdrawn from NIMASA’s accounts, converted into dollars, and handed over to Dr Akpobolokemi.
According to him, the money was taken to a Bureau de Change, which converted it into $15 million before the cash was delivered to the NIMASA office on Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos.
He said he subsequently took the money to the office of the then Director-General.
“The money was sent to a Bureau de Change, which later brought the dollar equivalent to our office at Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos. I asked my Personal Assistant, Ekene Nwakuche, to carry the bag and follow me to the Director-General’s office,” he told the court.
The witness explained that he collected the bag from his aide before entering the office.
“When we got to the door of the Director-General’s office, I collected the bag from him and asked him to wait outside. I then personally delivered the sum of $15 million to the Director-General.”
The witness was initially a defendant in the case but later opted to testify for the prosecution.
While being led in evidence by prosecuting counsel, Suleiman Suleiman, he explained the chain of command within NIMASA and how financial approvals were processed in the agency.
According to him, the Director-General is the overall head of the agency and issues instructions to directors, who then implement policies in line with the NIMASA Act.
He told the court that he chaired the agency’s Intelligence Committee, which was responsible for certain security-related operations.
“As chairman of the committee, I oversaw its activities and reported directly to the Director-General, Dr. Patrick Akpobolokemi,” he said.
During the proceedings, the witness was also shown a document containing a letter from Access Bank to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) detailing transactions in NIMASA’s accounts between 2013 and 2015.
When asked how much money he took to the former Director-General, Agaba replied: “$15 million.”
After listening to the testimony, Justice Faji adjourned the matter until April 22 and 23 for cross-examination of the witness.
The EFCC had in December 2015 arraigned Dr. Akpobolokemi and seven others before the court on a 30-count charge bordering on conspiracy, fraudulent conversion of funds and money laundering.
Those charged alongside the former NIMASA boss include, Warredi Enisuoh, Governor Juan, Ugo Frederick, Timi Alari, as well as Alkenzo Limited and Penniel Engineering Services Limited.
They pleaded not guilty to the offences.
The anti-graft agency alleged that the defendants conspired to divert funds running into over N1.15 billion under the guise of providing security intelligence in Nigeria’s maritime domain.
According to the EFCC, the NIMASA Intelligence Committee allegedly received N1,153,000,000 between December 2013 and July 2015.
Investigations further revealed that several companies contracted to execute the intelligence operations were either unregistered or lacked the capacity to perform the services, while some were allegedly linked to the defendants.
The prosecution also alleged that the defendants nominated or owned many of the companies used to execute the contracts.
One of the charges stated that the defendants conspired to commit offences punishable under the Money Laundering (Prohibition) Act, 2012.
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