Abibakr As-Sidiq Philanthropic Home team designated field team conductiong a physical assessment on communities hit by the recent heavy rainstorm and flood disasters in Kwara State

The communities visited include the following;

1- Pategi Local Government Area: Pategi is a town and local government area in Kwara State along the River Niger with its Headquarters in Pategi town. It is inhabited by the Nupe people whose major occupation is fishing, farming and trading.

2- Lafiagi Town: a town in Edu Local Government Area of Kwara State with an estimated population of 201,469 people (as of the last census conducted in Nigeria), and a landmass of 2,542 square kilometers. It is located on the south bank of the River Niger. It is a market Centre for rice, yams, sorghum, millet, corn (maize), sugarcane, kola nuts, peanuts (groundnuts), palm produce, fish, cattle, and cotton. Lafiagi is also the collection point for the rice grown on the Fadamas (”floodplains”) of the Niger and dried fish.

3- Jebba Town: this is a town in Moro Local Government Area on the border area between Kwara State and Niger State. Over 2500 residents have been displaced from their abodes by the flood. According to Akanbi Arisekola Abdulazeez, the youth leader and spokesperson for Jebba Descendant Union said that the flooding has been a recurrent incident but it became worse this year with over 200 buildings submerged in the water and over 600 households with more than 2500 displaced people in the Ikpata community alone while the source of living of many members of the community has been destroyed. From our assessment, we suspect these occurrences are effects of the gradual negative development of climate change.

4- Ilorin City: the rainstorm ravaged houses and properties of residents leaving thousands displaced and others homeless. This incident has worsened the hitherto difficult living conditions of the people who are still trying to grapple with the economic recession occasioned by the COVID-19 lockdown.

In the communities visited including Dada community; Okelele in Ilorin East Local Government Area, Pakata community in Ilorin West Local Government and Abayawo community in Ilorin South Local Government; it was all tales of sorrow and woes as residents recount how they have lost properties worth hundreds of millions of Naira.