Seven persons lost their lives to devastating flood disaster in different parts of Kwara State this year. The riverine communities in Patigi, Patigi local government area of the state is the worst hit by the disaster which has become an annual ritual.

A total of 1, 300 households and 2, 800 persons were affected in the flood disaster that also submerged large hectares of farmland and houses in Patigi.

The managing director, Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC), Alhaji Abubakar Yelwa, disclosed this yesterday in Patigi.

Yelwa spoke while flagging off the distribution of N50million worth of relief materials to victims of flooding in the state.

The items distributed to the victims included 1,300 mattresses, 500 bags of rice, 200 cartons of bathing soap and 250 cartons of detergents, among others.

Represented by the commission’s director, Environment and Community Development, Mahmud, Muhammed, Yelwa warned those living in the riverine communities to vacate the place warning that the worst disaster is waiting to happen.

Yelwa said the federal government might no longer have the resources to continue to provide relief materials to affected persons as a result of the recurring flood disaster in the area due to dwindling resources.

He said HYPPADEC was considering sponsoring a bill to enact a law that will prohibit people from residing in certain killometres away from river to avert recurring loss of lives and properties.

He decried the refusal of residents of the riverine areas and victims of previous flood disasters to relocate to internally displaced persons (IDPs) camps provided by the federal government.

A victims, Mohammed Garba who said he lost over one hectare of his rice farm to the flood, regretted that they could not relocate to the IDPs camp provided by the federal government because their means of livelihood which according to him is fishing and farming is in the riverine area.