Owing to the effect of flood, residential houses in Ogbaru Local Government Area, Anambra State have begun to witness the influx of dangerous reptiles into their abode.
This was revealed by the Transition Chairman of Ogbaru Council Area, Mr. Arinze Awogu yesterday. In fact, some of these people have begun to relocate into the holding camps prepared for them.
According to Awogu, the level of the River Niger had continued to rise, making streets and flood channels that emptied into the River flow backward. The result of this is that at least 1000 persons have been forced to leave their homes. Ogbaru itself is a coastal local government with all its 16 communities on the banks of River Niger.
Recently, a large cobra crept into an apartment in Atani. However, it was killed with the assistance of operatives from the Atani Divisional Police Station. Awogu stressed that the man in whose house it was killed miraculously escaped being bitten by the snake the previous night as he went into his Boys Quarters in search of some documents.
His words: “On sighting the snake, he quickly shut the door and invited the police from Atani police division who teargassed the room and the reptile became uncomfortable, but as it made its way out, it was killed by those around”.
The Transition Chairman instructed the people of the area to always close their doors and make use of repellants to ward off these reptiles since most of them have been displaced from their natural habitat.
Awogu noted that more people were being displaced from their homes by the flood as such; they have started moving into the three holding camps in the council. Although he regretted that flooding had become a yearly experience for the people, he assured them of care while in the camps.
“People are leaving their homes and heading to the holding centers created by the Anambra government for people in flood-prone local government areas. The task now is to ensure they have the necessities of existence like food, healthcare, and other facilities while waiting for the flood to recede”.
With that being said, Awogu, in addition to what the State Government is doing, also called for assistance from the Federal Government, through the National Emergency Management Agency.
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