The sand stirred up by the helicopter conveying
Vice-President Namadi Sambo to Buanchor, Boki Local Government Area of Cross
River State on Friday destroyed a mud-house belonging to a 78-year- old woman,
Mrs. Bessie Obi, when it landed in the community.
Sambo was in the community to ascertain the
extent of damage caused by recent landslide from surrounding mountains silting
rivers, streams and causing flooding in the area.
As soon as the mud-house collapsed, Obi ran out
and started crying profusely.
Obi was quickly attended to by officers of the
Cross River State Emergency Management Agency and its counterpart in the
National Emergency Management Agency.
The mud-house had three rooms, an old wooden
furniture and other household items.
The Director-General of SEMA, Mr. Vincent Aquah,
who assessed the damage, sympathised with Obi and the four other occupants of
the house and assured them that the matter would be addressed.
Assessing the damage caused by the landslide,
Sambo, who was oblivious of the damage caused when his aircraft landed in the
community, said the Federal Government would take pragmatic steps towards
addressing the disaster.
Sambo, in company with Governor Liyel Imoke and
other dignitaries, undertook a trip to some of the areas affected by the slide,
including the only secondary school in the community-Buanchor Secondary School,
which was submerged.
He said the Presidency was disturbed by the
devastation that the agrarian community of about 3,000 people had suffered.
The vice-president, who observed that floodings,
had caused colossal damage to persons and property nationwide this year, added
that the Federal Government was already taking steps to address it by constituting
a committee to manage the situation.
He said in addition, large sums of money had been
allocated to cushion the effects of the floodings.
Earlier, Imoke said the presence of the
vice-president showed the concern the Federal Government had for the people of
Boki and the state in general.
Imoke said the natural disaster was unprecedented
as parts of the Afi Mountain range slid, pulling down everything in its path.
The worst, he said, was the silting of the rivers
and streams which deprived the people of potable water.
In an interview, the Youth leader of the
community Mr. McSteven Kembre, said the people of the community were elated by
Sambo’s visit.
He said after several assessments and donations
by governments and groups, the people were a bit relieved.
Also, 72-year old Lucy Abang, said the
vice-president’s visit would remain memorable in the history of the village.
Another indigene, Mr. Martin Otu, urged the
Federal Government to live by its promise so as to uplift the economy of the
village.
The chairman of the community, Mr. Abang Obi,
expressed the hope that the most urgent needs of the people such as potable
water, farm inputs such as fertiliser, soft loans, farm implements and seeds
would be provided for the victims on time.
Buanchor community, Katabang, Orimekpang and Boje
in Boki as well as some communities in Ikom were heavily flooded on account of
the landslide in July.
The Punch
Blame reckless drivers for ember months crashes
–FRSThe Federal Road Safety Commission on Monday blamed the recklessness of
drivers for the frequent crashes usually recorded during the ember months.
The Ogun State Sector Commander of the FRSC, Mr.
Ayobami Omiyale, spoke at an enlightenment campaign lecture organised by the
Ajowa Tipper/Lorry Owners and Drivers Association of Nigeria to mark the
opening of the association’s new branch office at Obada Oko, Abeokuta.
According to Omiyale, the reckless manner in
which many of the drivers conduct themselves while behind the steering
reinforced the “superstition that blood-sucking spirits invade the highways
from September to December” every year to cause accidents.
He added that because of such beliefs, some
drivers would rather crush and kill a fellow human being than run over a duck
which had strayed into the road.
“Some people believe that some blood-sucking
spirits take over our roads during the ember months. But I want to say that the
drivers themselves help these so called blood-sucking spirits. Even if there
are blood-sucking spirits on our roads, it is the reckless driver that helps
them to operate successfully.
“The driver should carry the highest blame
because if we say that bad roads cause accident, all roads within Abuja are
good but fatal accidents still happen inside the city centres.”
He said negligence on the part of many
tipper/lorry drivers in the state and lackadaisical attitude towards the
mechanical condition of their vehicles had resulted in avoidable road crashes
in which lives were lost.
National President of ATLODAN, Alhaji Waheed
Tomori, lamented the importation of fake and sub-standard auto spare parts into
the country and appealed to the Nigeria Customs, Standard Organisation of
Nigeria and other relevant government agencies to check the importation and
production of such fake and sub-standard spare parts.
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