A group seeking environmental justice, democracy and social change in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea, Social Action, has called for an inquiry into flood relief spendings by Bayelsa and Rivers States governments.
The group said what was on ground was not in the slightest tandem of the huge funds released to alleviate the sufferings of the victims.
Social Action also called for the sanction of Mr. Tele Ikuru, the Deputy Governor of Rivers State, for the eviction of a HIV Positive woman, Mrs. Maureen Lucky, who later died.
According to the group, the deceased was ejected from the Okwuzi flood relief camp in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State on the orders of Ikuru, who is the chairman of the Rivers State Flood Management Committee.
The mother of 3, had sought refuge in the government camp in Okwuzi, after her home was submerged in the ravaging flood.
The group said it has petitioned the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), to probe the Deputy Governor of Rivers state for the role he played in the eviction and eventual death of poor Mrs. Lucky.
Below is a full text of the statement
Briefing on Outcome of Flood Disaster Management in Bayelsa and Rivers States
Gross Rights Violation in Flood Relief Camp: Social Action Calls for Sanctioning of Deputy Governor of Rivers State over Eviction and Death of an HIV Positive Woman
20/12/12
Social Action is calling for probe into the death of Mrs Maureen Lucky, an HIV positive woman who was ejected from Okwuzi flood relief camp in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State on the orders of Mr. Tele Ikuru, the Chairman of The Rivers State Flood Management Committee and Deputy Governor of the State. Mrs. Lucky, an indigene of Okwuzi community was one of the many persons whose homes were submerged by the recent flooding that occurred in parts of the state and country. She along with her children subsequently went to seek refuge in the camp set up by the state government in Okwuzi. Following reports by Social Action about the condition of Mrs. Lucky and other sick residents in the camps, the Deputy Governor Mr. Tele Ikuru and the Chairman of the Local Government Council, Mr Raymond Wokocha, visited the Okwuzi camp where they ordered the forceful eviction of the Mrs. Lucky who, with her children, ended up in an uncompleted building where she died a few days later, on November 24th 2012.
In a petition to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Social Action has asked for an investigation and sanctioning of the Deputy Governor of Rivers state for the role he played in the eviction and consequent death of Mrs. Chidinma Maureen Lucky. Social Action believes that the forced ejection of Mrs. Lucky from the flood camp caused her death. Social Action has also demanded for redress for her three Children aged 9, 3 and 2 years respectively whose rights to Shelter, human dignity, protection against discrimination etc have been grossly abused by the action of the Deputy Governor and Government of Rivers State, and the Ogba Egbema Local Government Council.
The case of Mrs. Lucky is contained in a Briefing Paper on the Flood disaster and Institutional response to it in Bayelsa and Rivers States, which is being released by Social Action today the 20th of December 2012.
In both states, the governments and related agencies responded belatedly to the disaster outbreak. This led to enormous losses by members of affected communities. Food crops and homes were destroyed while lives were lost. When the governments responded, arrangements were shoddy and rife with corruption as funds and relief materials were brazenly mismanaged by loyalists of the ruling party in the states who were charged with flood management. This resulted in the generally poor state of virtually all the flood camps set up in states.
In Rivers State, feeding was largely inadequate while there was no provision for healthcare of thousands of displaced persons. Women were giving birth to newborn babies unattended to by any qualified medical personnel while children suffered several ailments ranging from malaria to pneumonia, cough etc all without any medical attention in the camps. For weeks, flood victims were not provided with proper sanitation, which resulted in diarrhea related death in Ahoada West Local Government Area.
In Bayelsa State, Social Action discovered that the distribution of relief materials was ridden with allegations of diversion and fraud. The report contains evidence of diversion of relief material, which were sold to traders in Yenagoa and Mbiama. Apart from the camps in Yenegoa which had relatively better supply of food items, other camps in the state recorded poor feeding standards and provision of basic amenities. And while Bayelsa did relatively better in the area of healthcare provision for displaced persons in the camps, other areas such as sanitation and housing fared abysmally low as most of the camps were overcrowded creating effective rooms for transmission of diseases while most parts of the camp’s environment were littered with human and material wastes. The flood camps in the both states were abruptly shut down and displaced families sent away with, in some cases, N2,000. Most got nothing.
In the Briefing Paper, Social Action also recommended that:
Given the controversy that has trailed the data regarding the actual figure of casualties and damages of the flood between states and agencies with each disputing the figures given by the other, the different tiers of government need to work together to put in place machinery to effectively take record of and provide accurate statistics of the flood. This will make room for proper planning for rehabilitation.
In view of the enormous damages done to the homes, properties and livelihoods of the people, a systematic and well laid out Post-Flood Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Plan should be drawn up for all states. This should incorporate grants and credit facilities to flood victims to assist them repair, as much as is possible, damaged structures including shelters, farmlands and other commercial ventures that serve as their sources of livelihood.
Given the apparent failure of disaster/emergency preparedness towards the flooding and the consequent huge toll it took both on lives, livelihoods and the economy as a result, an effective early warning and disaster preparation mechanism should be instituted to educate both the citizenry and relevant government bodies on responses to emergencies/disasters.
The National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) and other disastermanagement agencies should be decentralized. To this end, State Emergency Management Authority (SEMA) should be set up to free NEMA of the burdensome bureaucracy often associated with processing authorization for action(s) during emergencies. This has mostly proved tragic as many lives/properties have been lost to NEMA’s belated responses to emergencies owing to bureaucracy.
Considering that the evidence on ground did not support the claims by the Bayelsa State Government and Rivers State Government to huge expenditures in flood relief, there is a need for public probes of the flood relief expenditures in both states, and nationally.
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