Gombe State Governor,His Excellency Governor Inuwa Yahaya who’s the Governor of Gombe State, on Friday said the flood presently ravaging parts of the country has affected two of the 11 local governments in the state, leaving 3,200 families displaced without shelter.
Governor Yahaya stated this in an interview with State House correspondents after a meeting he had with His Excellency, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He reported that the flood that affected the two local governments was caused by the flood around the river banks of Gongola.
Yahaya said that the state is situated between the valleys and lack of proper environmental management had worsened the situation in Gombe flooded area.
He said they have appealed to the Federal Government to assist in one of the major gully erosion in the state which is a disturbing factor for the residents of the affected local government areas in Gombe State.
“Recently, in two local governments that are affected, we have about 3,200 families that have been dislocated. But we have been trying to provide alternatives and shelter for them.
“Presently, we are designing layouts from which we will relocate all resettlements that are on flood plains and on gullies which are normally susceptible to floods,” the governor said.
Yahaya added that the state is also being weighed down by the responsibility of catering for Internally Displaced Persons and people displaced from neighbouring states as a result of insurgency.
The governor also wants pressure to be mounted on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Department of Petroleum Resources to hasten exploitation of oil and gas deposit in the state.
“With the discovery of oil and gas in Gombe and Bauchi States, and specifically, in the whole of Gongola Basin, we seek to get the support of the Federal Government so that pressure will be mounted on the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation and the Department of Petroleum Resources.
“This is for the organisations to see to the fact that the exploitation oil and gas deposit that is available in Gombe and in fact the wider Gongola Basin is encouraged so that economic activities will be triggered, our people will have more jobs and Gombe will join the league of oil-producing states,” he said.