The Senate yesterday urged the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to immediately intervene in Ebonyi by providing relief materials and rebuild homes, worship places and schools of victims, following the recent destruction of lives and property by windstorm in the state.
Accordingly, the upper chamber also called on the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET) and other relevant government agencies to be more proactive in predicting and giving early warning signals of natural disasters so that the people could take precautionary measures to minimise the effects of such natural disasters. Similarly, the upper legislative chamber mandated its Committee on Environment to visit the affected communities for assessment of the damages and to make appropriate recommendations.
These resolutions followed a motion on Destruction of lives and property in Ebonyi state by windstorm: Need for urgent action,” by Senator Sam Egwu (PDP, Ebonyi North) during plenary. Presenting the motion, Senator Egwu noted that “the recent calamity suffered by several communities in Ebonyi state as a result of the invasion of highly destructive windstorm resulting in the loss of lives and property.”
According to him, over 400 houses, including residences, churches and schools were blown away by the windstorm on April 24 at Ukwagba, Okposhi Eshi, Ekwashi, Iboko and Amaga communities in Ohaukwu, Izzi and Abakaliki local government areas of the state. Egwu also lamented that thousands of citizens, including women and children have been rendered homeless, while places and schools have been shut down with hundreds of school children now out of school because of the disaster.
