Disaster As Crops, Houses Destroyed By Heavy Flood In Plateau Communities

From Agabus Pwanagba, Jos – Following a heavy downpour which caused river to overflow its banks in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State, hectares of cultivated lands with crops matured for harvest have been swamped in two communities of the Council.

Gimbi and Mavo adjoining the Wase River have suffered heavy loss from the devastating floods which have stagnated storm waters on the farms above knee levels.

Narrating his ordeal to AFRICAN EXAMINER correspondent, Nanpon Nanzing, a resident of Mavo said, “Some crops have been washed off completely, while others are taken up by the floods which pulled up storm waters to above knee level.

Nanzing, who is one of the flood victims told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the disaster first hit Gimbi, a neighbouring community, and then continued in his town of Mavo, also on the banks of the river which has swelled up in width in the last two weeks of sustained downpours.

“We have lost all our farms; every crop gone. The crops were all maturing for harvest.” Nanzing decried.

He indicated that the communities affected were the major producers of rice, guinea corn, maize, groundnuts, and yams among others, all of which have been washed away, or swamped by storm waters from the river.

However, he confirmed that houses and other property were not affected by the floods which have lasted for over two weeks now.

It would be recalled Wase is one of four LGAs, in the Southern Senatorial Zone of Plateau, where floods with devastating effects forced authorities to issue warning alert to residents to relocate to safer areas. The others are Shendam, where four bridges have been affected along Longvell River, Mikang as well as Qua’an Pan.

All areas are located along various tributaries of the Benue River, which width banks overflew at various points.

Also, Wase was among many areas hit by floods in 2012, in which thousands of homes were either washed away, or swamped, while two bridges along the river in the area were also washed off, and have only been partly reconstructed.

Similarly, the people of Mavo and Gimbi lost farms and are yet to recover from the terrible effect of the disaster.

Reacting to the unfortunate incident, the Management Committee Chairman of Wase LGA, Dr. Ado Buba described the incident as “another unfortunate threat to food security,” saying there were hardly farms still standing in the two communities.

Buba appealed to both State and Federal Governments, international intervention bodies and well-meaning individuals to come to the aid of the communities.