By Solomon Azu
Torrential floodwaters have submerged homes, farmlands and businesses in Ikot Okpora Community in Cross River State, leaving hundreds of residents stranded and making desperate pleas for government rescue and humanitarian intervention.
The flooding, which has left entire compounds underwater, has forced families to abandon their houses, with footage from the disaster zone showing a heartbreaking scene of residential buildings submerged up to window level and makeshift commercial stalls half-covered in murky brown water.
Residents, including elderly persons, women and children, are currently stranded outdoors with little or no access to food, clean drinking water and safe shelter, as water levels continue to rise and threaten the few remaining dry areas.
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“Water has taken over everywhere… All our property is gone. Please help us come to our rescue before people start dying. No food, no water, people are dying here,” an affected resident, Ugumanim Okpora cried out from a makeshift shelter where he and his wife are currently taking refuge.
Sources in the community told our correspondent that the flood has destroyed property worth millions of naira, washed away farm produce, and crippled local economic activities, leaving livelihoods in ruins.
The affected persons are appealing to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, State Emergency Management Agencies, and the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, as well as the state government, to urgently deploy rescue teams, relief materials, medical supplies and evacuation support to the area.
The Ikot Okpora disaster underscores the recurring existential threat seasonal flooding poses to riverside and low-lying communities across Nigeria’s coastal and riverine regions, particularly in the Niger Delta, where poor drainage, overflowing rivers and heavy rainfall continue to displace thousands annually.
As at press time, no official response has been received from emergency authorities, while residents warn that without immediate intervention, the humanitarian situation could spiral into a full-blown crisis.
