The Director General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs Zubaida Umar, on Sunday announced that the agency had activated all zonal, territorial and operation offices across Nigeria in furtherance of its proactive flood risk management.
A statement by the Head, Press Unit, Manzo Ezekiel, said that this was with a view to working with the States Emergency Management Agencies (SEMAs) within their area of responsibilities to carry out rescue operations and conduct assessment of the situation.
The NEMA zonal, territorial and operation offices are located in Lagos, Ibadan, Ekiti, Abuja, Minna, Jos, Enugu, Owerri, Port Harcourt, Edo, Uyo, Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Yola and Gombe.
At the headquarters, NEMA also operates a toll-free emergency contact line: 0800CALLNEMA (080022556362) in addition to all its social media platforms through which feedback from members of the public can be received nationwide, the statement added.
Consequently, NEMA search and rescue officers, the agency said, have been deployed across the states and providing the much desired support in coordination of rescue operations with SEMAs and other stakeholders at recently flooded areas and communities.
The agency is also conducting rapid assessment to determine any further assistance that may be required in the impacted communities.
The rescue efforts by NEMA is in addition to the ongoing sensitisation and awareness activities being carried out to alert the public of the predicted flood for necessary actions to be taken to avert negative impacts, Ezekiel added.
On Wednesday July 3, the Director General of NEMA, Umar, the statement said, was in Anambra State on flood advocacy where she discussed with the state government as well as religious and community leaders on measures to avert and mitigate against flood in the state.
NEMA said that the state often records severe flooding annually, explaining that she had also previously visited several states and stakeholders across the country on the same mission with plans to continue with the advocacy.
As part of its pre-rainy season flood prevention advocacy, the agency said it engaged the media in the placement of flood sensitisation jingles and held emergency coordination forums with critical stakeholders to prepare them for the predicted disaster.
The agency said it had soon after the flood prediction written all state governments with the list of local governments that are at risk and outlined actions required to be taken also to avert or mitigate against the disaster.
“A number of states that heeded the advisory from NEMA have acknowledged their early actions matched with the warnings and NEMA responses that have made lots of differences.
“NEMA wishes to re-emphasise the flood warning while calling on all stakeholders including states and local governments to be prepared with the intensifying of the rain season,” the statement added.
Emmanuel Addeh
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