The Director General of FEMA, Dr Abbas Idriss, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday.
Idriss explained that the 2023 Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency showed that the FCT and 178 other local governments across the country were highly probable flood-risk areas.
He added that all hands would be on deck with other stakeholders to mitigate against the impact of floods, adding that the demolition of shanties in some areas of the FCT, was part of the efforts to open waterways to allow the free flow of water.
“We intend to assess the infrastructural improvements made by the Federal Capital Development Authority, and other stakeholders towards preventing or mitigating the impact of flooding in the FCT.
All hands are on deck to ensure that flood, even when it happens, will not be devastating. You will see that since the last rainy season, we are still working to remove shanties to open the blocked waterways to allow free flow of water when the rain comes”.
The statement stated that the ongoing demolition was premised on the agency’s “assessment and findings on the blockage of waterways with illegal structures”, adding that “this helped in 2022, which is why we did not have any fatalities from flooding in the FCT. We are expecting the same this year and we are already working to mitigate the impact of floods”.
The DG called on residents to support the actions of the agency and that they will continue to demolish structures built against the Abuja Master Plan.
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