Plans by Camerounian authorities to release water from the Lagdo Dam has sent residents of Makurdi, Guma, Agatu, Gwer and other nearby areas of Benue State into panic.
The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr Adikpo Agbatse, had announced on state radio during the week that the Cameroonian authorities would release water from the dam during the weekend and enjoined the people in vulnerable areas to be on alert, particularly, when the volume of water from River Benue begins to rise.
Immediately after the announcement was made, this correspondent went round vulnerable areas in the capital city, with the residents expressing their fears and calling on the state government to immediately provide a comfortable place for them.
A woman who lives at New Garage area, one of the worst hit last year, told Saturday Tribune that the family is already planning to relocate to the eastern part of the country to avoid the experience of last year.
According to her, “someone called my husband this morning and informed him of the radio announcement of the repeat of the flood incident anytime from now.
Immediately we heard this, we decided to send our children to the village to prevent them from experiencing the flood of last year as we were stranded in a room that looked like a cubicle when the flood sacked us from here.
Also, Mr. James Atser, who lives along Gboko road, one of the devastated areas last year, said that there was little he could do since he could not remove his house from the area, but called on the state government to make available a better place for people who may likely be displaced by the flood.
The SEMA boss who spoke to this correspondent said that Cameroonian authorities had sent alerts to the affected states, warning that it would release water from her dam this weekend, adding that they had released some, penultimate Thursday.
Benue State was one of the most affected states in the country last year when there was widespread flooding as a result of heavy rainfalls and waters being released from the same Lagdo Dam in Cameroun that flowed into the River Benue and overflowed its banks.