Flood: Bayelsa begins closing camps for displaced people
As the flood that engulfed most communities in Bayelsa State gradually recedes, the government has taken steps to close camps for internally displaced people.
His first stop was the largest displaced persons camp at the Ox-Bow Lake Lodge, which was closed on Saturday.
Others in the Igbogene area of the state capital and other locations in the state capital would be closed on Sunday.
Before sending flood victims home, people at the Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion Displaced Persons Center first had an outdoor thanksgiving.
The solemn ceremony took place before the last meal that was served to the victims before they began to return to their various homes.
In his brief sermon, the Vice President of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the State and President of the Bayelsa Baptist Conference, Dr. Abili Abili, took a sermon from Isaiah 43:1-2 and Genesis 9:10-15, where he assured the displaced people that God had promised He would no longer destroy the earth with floods.
"As you return home, remember that God promised that he would not destroy the world with a flood as it happened in the days of Noah. Remember God and turn to him,” he urged them.
Meanwhile, Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion IDP Camp Commander Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai commended State Governor Douye Diri for his display of empathy, compassion and capacity in dealing with this year's floods and casualties in the state.
Koku-Obiyai, the chief whip of the Bayelsa State Assembly, said more than 12,000 displaced people had been housed in the camp, noting that the state government fed them daily during the 28 days that the camp lasted without any death being recorded.
She said, "There were more than 12,000 (displaced people) in this camp. Almighty God sustained us day and night. We had no deaths; no one was sick in the extent that the hospital could not treat them.
"We must sincerely thank the governor. The governor took charge of the state. We have had cases in other states where the floods were so bad that their governor had to leave the state for the citizens can manage themselves. But it was a governor (Douye Diri) who stood by our side, went from community to community and provided shelter to people. And for that we thank God . »
Reacting to some complaints that the government may have been too hasty in closing IDP camps, particularly when the flooding has not fully receded, Koku-Obiyai said: "Many of them (displaced people) would not like to go home because of the nature of the food. We are all Bayelsians and we know that the flood has retreated in so many places. Even as we speak, the flood back. So we know; we're Bayelsian."
As the flood that engulfed most communities in Bayelsa State gradually recedes, the government has taken steps to close camps for internally displaced people.
His first stop was the largest displaced persons camp at the Ox-Bow Lake Lodge, which was closed on Saturday.
Others in the Igbogene area of the state capital and other locations in the state capital would be closed on Sunday.
Before sending flood victims home, people at the Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion Displaced Persons Center first had an outdoor thanksgiving.
The solemn ceremony took place before the last meal that was served to the victims before they began to return to their various homes.
In his brief sermon, the Vice President of the Christian Association of Nigeria in the State and President of the Bayelsa Baptist Conference, Dr. Abili Abili, took a sermon from Isaiah 43:1-2 and Genesis 9:10-15, where he assured the displaced people that God had promised He would no longer destroy the earth with floods.
"As you return home, remember that God promised that he would not destroy the world with a flood as it happened in the days of Noah. Remember God and turn to him,” he urged them.
Meanwhile, Ox-Bow Lake Pavilion IDP Camp Commander Ebiuwou Koku-Obiyai commended State Governor Douye Diri for his display of empathy, compassion and capacity in dealing with this year's floods and casualties in the state.
Koku-Obiyai, the chief whip of the Bayelsa State Assembly, said more than 12,000 displaced people had been housed in the camp, noting that the state government fed them daily during the 28 days that the camp lasted without any death being recorded.
She said, "There were more than 12,000 (displaced people) in this camp. Almighty God sustained us day and night. We had no deaths; no one was sick in the extent that the hospital could not treat them.
"We must sincerely thank the governor. The governor took charge of the state. We have had cases in other states where the floods were so bad that their governor had to leave the state for the citizens can manage themselves. But it was a governor (Douye Diri) who stood by our side, went from community to community and provided shelter to people. And for that we thank God . »
Reacting to some complaints that the government may have been too hasty in closing IDP camps, particularly when the flooding has not fully receded, Koku-Obiyai said: "Many of them (displaced people) would not like to go home because of the nature of the food. We are all Bayelsians and we know that the flood has retreated in so many places. Even as we speak, the flood back. So we know; we're Bayelsian."
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