Flood Kills 8 Children In Rivers Community In 3 Weeks

No fewer than eight children have died from flooding in Eneka community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, in the past three weeks, residents have said.

Floodwater caused by several days of heavy rainfall has submerged parts of the Port Harcourt metropolis, including Port Harcourt City, Obio/Akpor, Eleme and Etche local government areas.

Last week, the Rivers State Government announced that Governor Siminalayi Fubara had approved ₦200,000 for each of the 35 households identified as victims of flooding in Eneka.

However, residents have called on the government to prioritise a lasting solution to the flooding, saying stagnant water continues to endanger lives and expose children and other residents to health risks.

Speaking to journalists in Port Harcourt on Wednesday, the Chairman of the Rumuchiorlu Farm Road Landlords and Residents Association, Martin Okafor, said more than eight people, mostly children, had died in the community.

“We lost many children’s lives in this flood; we lost more than eight lives here. Most of them died and reported snake bites; I saw two with my eyes,” he said.

Okafor said some children had drowned after floodwater entered their mouths and noses while they were asleep.

“Most of them, before they wake up, water has entered their mouths and their noses, so, they died; 12 years, 8 years and 10 years. That is the death we recorded here,” he said.

He urged the government to visit the community and provide a permanent drainage solution, stressing that the water remained stagnant instead of flowing away.

“We are calling on the government to come and see what they can do. The water comes like a flood but it is stagnant water. It is not going anywhere. The government should come and look for a way where this water will go,” he said.

Another resident, Amarachukwu Onukwube, said women and girls in the community were suffering from skin rashes and other infections due to prolonged exposure to floodwater.

Onukwube said residents needed a lasting solution rather than financial assistance or palliatives, adding that many children lacked protective equipment while moving through the water.

“We don’t need palliatives, we don’t need money. Peradventure they had given palliatives, we are not among them. Our female children are suffering,” she said.

“Majority of them are having serious infections, both skin infections and all that because of the level of where the water is entering into their body. It is not all of them that have protective measures to put on in the course of moving inside the water,” she added.

The residents urged the state government to urgently address the flooding and prevent further deaths and health complications in the community.