Following the floods in the Niger Delta, eminent statesman, Edwin Clark, has urged the Federal Government to act quickly to avert calamities in the Niger Delta.
In a statement released on Sunday, Clark, an Ijaw elder, lamented the floods that had forced hundreds of people from their homes in the area and across Nigeria. He charged that the Federal Government was being careless about the situation and urged the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and other organisations to send aid to the affected districts immediately.
Clark said, “I enjoin these Federal Government bodies to act fast and sincerely. And should ensure that if relief items are provided, they will actually reach the right people for whom it is meant.
“The Federal Government should please act fast. A great disaster is looming.”
Explaining the situation in in Bayelsa he said, “For instance, in Bayelsa State, there is a palpable case of humanitarian crisis. Most communities of the state, including majority parts of Yenagoa, the state Capital, are under water. The people of the state, who do not have where to go to, have resorted to some crude accommodation of pinning sticks inside the water, with a platform which they use as a bed, made up of cellophane bags.”
He further said, “There is starvation in the land, no water for the people to drink, the state is cut off from all sources that supply food to her, even electricity supply, has been cut off.
“It is a scary situation, as this exposes the people to danger. The Federal Government has not done anything to reduce the plight and suffering of the people.”