Jalingo – No fewer
than five people were
confirmed dead and
more than 50 persons
declared missing
following torrential
rains and flooding in
Lau, Karim-Lamido and
Gassol Local
Government Areas of
Taraba.
In separate interviews
on Wednesday, the
chairmen of these
councils also said that
crops and livestock
worth millions of naira
had been washed
away by the flood.
The three persons
died in Lau and two in
Karim-Lamido councils
respectively.
Alhaji Tukura Bashir,
Chairman of Gassol
local government area,
noted that such
disaster had not been
witnessed in the area
in the past five
decades.
Bashir said that
villagers on the banks
of the River Benue, the
major cause of the
devastation, had seen
many copses floating
on the river.
Meanwhile, the
Chairmen of Lau, Mr
Anthony Danburam and
his Karim-Lamido
counterpart, Mr Idi Mali,
both confirmed that
several people were
also displaced.
In all the affected
councils, thousands of
people were displaced
and farmlands
submerged.
The development
raised fears of food
shortages due to the
loss of crops such as
rice, maize and beans,
among others to floods
across Taraba in the
past one month.
All the council chairmen
and farmers have
called for urgent
intervention by the
National Emergency
Management Agency
(NEMA), the state
government and well-
meaning individuals to
provide succour to the
people.
They said the call for
assistance had become
necessary because the
magnitude of the
devastation was
beyond the capacity of
the councils. (NAN)