Submerged by flood, Bayelsa kingdom finds refuge on bridge

Following the devastating floods that crippled activities in Biseni Kingdom in Bayelsa State, thousands of displaced residents have found a new home atop a bridge, writes SAMUEL ESE

Residents of Biseni kingdom in Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bayelsa State have erected makeshift structures on a bridge linking the community due to the rising flood water which has displaced them.

Schools, homes, health centres, churches, farmlands, businesses and the road linking the kingdom have been submerged for several days without any relief material or assistance from the government, the residents told The PUNCH.

Even the house of the Chairman, Yenagoa Local Government Area, Bulodisiye Ndiwari, was not spared in the flood that defied the state government’s expectations.
The Bayelsa State Directorate of Flood and Erosion Control had said this year’s flood would not be as devastating as that of 2022 and concentrated efforts in clearing water channels in the capital, Yenagoa.

Recently, during the state’s annual thanksgiving service, Governor Douye Diri had expressed appreciation to God that this year’s flood was not as devastating as that of 2022.

But the governor may have been left shattered after houses in Biseni Kingdom and other parts of the state were submerged in one of most devastating floods ever seen by residents.
Traumatised by their plight the residents of Kilama, Perebiri-Ayahkumo, Egbebiri and Tuburu communities, all in Biseni Kingdom, sent a save-our-soul message to the Federal Government and the Bayelsa State Government to come to their rescue.

From Kilama to Perebiri-Ayahkumo, Egbebiri and Tuburu communities, the story is the same for many of the residents, who look distressed as they now find houses and property under water from River Niger, River Benue and the Orashi River.

The Ibedaowei of Biseni clan, King David Obuma, said the people felt abandoned as the flood brought along “great hunger and shelter.”

Obuma called on the state government to help the people to sand fill some places as higher grounds for refuge as short term measure, while embankment of the river bank, dykes and dams should be constructed as long term solutions.

He said, “As we speak, the water is rising every minute. The major problem is food; all our farmlands are submerged, causing hunger. The thing that is most important for my people is a place to stay for temporary shelter.

“The island we are on is a project we launched about a year ago and we expect the government to sand fill or take over the project.

“Surprisingly, no government official has visited here, except during the campaigns, when they promised a lot of projects that they will embark on under four years, which they haven’t done.
“We do not have palliatives. For instance, throughout the 2022 flood, we did not receive any relief materials from the emergency unit the government created.

“A year later, there was news about a warehouse in Yenagoa that was broken and bags of rice were spoilt and carried away. So, we appeal to the federal and state governments to help us out.

“When a situation like this happened in Borno State, they gave N30bn to the state. You can see a lot of people crying because of suffering, the losses are countless.

As a short-term solution, he urged the government to help the people to fill some places with sand so as to provide places of refuge for people.

He also urged the government to construct embankments and dams as a long-term solution to the problem.

“The short term plan is the one that we proposed – one kilometre on this island, it should be temporary, in the form of a refugee camp.

“Medium term planning is to do the sand filling of the waterfront and the long term planning is a dyke. Today, you can drive to Bayelsa Palm. Before, you cannot drive there.
“Malaysians came and developed it. So, a proper dam from the back of the kingdom will help move water away from the settlement”, Obuma stated.

The Pere of Biseni, King Akile Peter Debekeme, lamented that despite playing host to several oil wells and gas facilities, the people of the kingdom continued to be at the receiving end of annual flood disasters.
King Debekeme also called for government intervention through the provision of relief materials and construction of Internally Displaced Persons camps in the area.

He stated, “People are suffering, children are dying, reptiles are driving people wherever they are. IDP camps are not prepared and the wealth of this country is gotten from this kingdom.

“The governor alone cannot address this issue. This is beyond the state level. This calls for the Federal Government to come forward because there is an agency for natural disaster, but we have not seen the presence of government.

“This is to know the pains of the people. We have no other place to run to. You cannot relocate us to a place where we are not used to. What we expect from them is to build 10 or more IDP camps.

“They will build it and elevate it so that in situations like this people will be taken down there. Security and medical care will be there, and then, we need boats.
“In Biseni, we live on farming and fishing. We cannot kill fish again because of the situation. Farmlands have been eroded and by December and January (2024), our people will be forced to be in hunger.”

Some of the displaced persons, including the secretary to the chiefs’ council, Oweifa Godday and Ere Konugha who are taking refuge at a temporary shelter on the bridge, say they are distressed and confused as they are separated from their families.

Godday said, “This is a natural disaster and Biseni is one of the most impacted areas by the flood. We come from different villages and this is the only place that is dry for us to stay.

“A lot of property has been destroyed by the flood and most houses are submerged. This bridge cannot accommodate all our property; so, a lot of them have gotten damaged.

“We have sent some of our children to some of the high places and some of the members of the community are in the camp, some of them are scattered in different areas. There is no way to feed because we cannot go into the bush to look for our daily bread.”

Konugha added, “The flood has affected us negatively. Like me, I cannot harvest all my cassava. I suffered a lot. As you can see, I am sick and my body has broken down and my mother, too, suffered a lot. Our cassava is lost.

“This flood has caused a lot of damage. We are confused and frustrated. Our houses are submerged. As you can see, we are living on the bridge. We need the government to help us in the aspect of feeding. We need mosquito nets, medicine. As you can see, we are not okay.”
Deputy Executive Director of the advocacy group, Environmental Defenders Network, Chief Alagoa Morris, who led a team of journalists on assessment of the flood situation, described the conditions of the Biseni people as pathetic.

Morris called for urgent action from government at the federal and state levels, as well as interventionist agencies, to come to the aid of the flood victims.

He blamed the defunct Niger Delta Ministry for failing to make its impact felt in communities across the region and challenged the Niger Delta Development Commission to come to the aid of the people while urging the Federal Government to give succour to Biseni people.

According to him, the Bayelsa State Government should use the N3bn received for flood related issues to cushion the sufferings of victims and fashion efficient and transparent mechanisms to distribute relief materials while supervising political appointees who allegedly diverted them.

Morris said, “We’ve seen for ourselves how traumatic the people are, how uncomfortable the current flood situation has placed them. Even though we heard about controlled release of water, we never expected flood of this magnitude.

“Biseni is like our thermometer in Bayelsa State and we have come to see that it is seriously under water and it is very pathetic.

“One of the reasons I wholeheartedly supported the scrapping of the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry is because that ministry was like a concubine. They produced budgets approved by the National Assembly, but there is no project in the Niger Delta you can associate with the Niger Delta Affairs Ministry and it’s very unfortunate.”
A growing number of communities are now ravaged by flood in the state while the state government has remained silent on the growing frustration amongst the victims.

Apart from the people of Biseni, residents of several communities in the capital, Yenagoa, Sampou, Amassoma, Anibeze, Osifo, Sagbama and Ogbia are also affected by the floods in the state.

Affected residents lamented that the state government paid little attention to this year’s flood warnings adding that there was no indication that the directive to local government councils and rural development authorities to locate higher grounds for makeshift structures was adhered to.