President Bola Tinubu has directed Vice, Kashim Shettima to immediately visit Maiduguri, Borno State’s capital city over the devastating flood.
Shettima disclosed this on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, in Abuja, at the 17th Annual Banking and Finance Conference (CIBN) themed, “Accelerated Economic Growth and Development: The State of Play and the Way Forward”.
”After this meeting with the consent of the President, I will rush to Maiduguri. The whole city has been overtaken by the flood.
“It is not peculiar to one part of the country. We are facing these challenges right from Bayelsa to Sokoto.
“Be rest assured that the President has the nation at heart and will do whatever it takes to salvage the state of affairs,” the Vice President said.
Mr Shettima expressed the sympathy of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to all the victims of flood disasters nationwide.
“I want to use this forum to commiserate with the people of our great nation over the flood disasters we are recording all across the length and breadth of this nation,” he said.
Many residents of Maiduguri have been displaced by flood, following the collapse of water channels at the Alau Dam.
The flood submerged residential quarters, roads and bridges, making many areas in the metropolis inaccessible.
It was gathered that the flood submerged strategic areas including parts of the Shehu of Borno Palace, Maiduguri Central Market and the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Other areas affected included the GRA, Maiduguri Zoo, College of Nursing, College of Agriculture and School of Health Technology, among others.
Many residents were seen evacuating basic items to areas considered relatively safer, with some youths erecting sandbags to prevent water from entering their quarters.
The state government was yet to issue official figures for casualties, but it has ordered the closure of public and private schools for two weeks.
