Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Duoye Diri, has bemoaned over the devastating flooding across the country, stating they have converted schools to Internally Displaced People (IDP) Camps.
The governor revealed this during an interview on Channels Television’s Newsnight, a pre-recorded show on Sunday.
Diri said the state government has converted primary and secondary schools that are not flooded into Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps, as every community in the state is affected by the flood.
Stressing that the whole state is now one big IDP camp, the governor stated that centres have been opened particularly in Yenagoa, the capital, to house displaced persons and begin to attend to their needs
He said further,
“Every community in Bayelsa is an IDP camp. However in Yenagoa the capital city, we have designated some IDP camps. It is not an exaggeration, every community is an IDP camp,” Diri said.
“We have a place called the Oxbow Lake which was used as an event centre. Today, that place has been opened for IDPs and we have no less than 2,000 IDPs in that centres. We also have all primary and secondary schools that are not yet flooded have been used as an IDP camp.”
“That is why the Task Force, together with the State Emergency Management Agency keep distributing foodstuff to every local government and every community because no community is left out.”
According to Diri, the state government is worried about the possible outbreak of diseases among the IDPs.
To address the issue, he said that the Ministry of Health has also commenced the distribution of drugs to the people while the situation lasts.
Bayelsa is one of the over 22 states in Nigeria that has been grappling with the issue of flooding recently. The situation has sacked many people from their homes and has destroyed many farmlands, with fears about the security of food.
