A week after floods flattened over 250 houses and killed at least 200 people in north-central Nigeria, aid is only just beginning to reach survivors of the disaster.The town of Mokwa, in Niger State, was hit with the worst flash flood in living memory on Thursday after overnight rains, with swathes of the town wiped out in a matter of hours.Emergency agencies and the government said they began delivering aid immediately to the victims, but residents insisted the response was lacklustre, with multiple families telling AFP earlier this week they still hadn’t received anything.Some said they were depending “solely” on fortunate neighbours and relatives whose properties were spared.Many victims were visibly angry Monday at the sparse government presence. An attempt to distribute some relief materials ended abruptly after residents — sceptical the event might be a staged photo op — insisted the items be distributed openly.But a traditional leader of the community, Mohammed Shaba Aliyu, told AFP Wednesday that the relief materials donated by “government and private individuals” were getting to the victims.”What we need now are consumables, and the government and some private individuals are providing us with consumables,” he said.Vice President Kashim Shettima, visiting the area Wednesday, said the government would donate trucks of “assorted food commodities” and 2 billion naira (about $1.3 million) to reconstruct damaged homes.Multiple international aid agencies said earlier this week that they were working with local authorities to support ongoing response efforts. The spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Manzo Ezekiel, said relief materials were being provided in batches so they could get to people in need securely.”These kinds of sites become criminal areas with people wanting to take advantage,” Ezekiel told AFP. “The provision of aid has to be in batches. Items have been handed over to community leaders in the area for distribution.”- ‘High risk of disease’ -Federal water management minister Joseph Utsev said the flooding was “caused by heavy rainfall due to extreme weather conditions occasioned by climate change”, though he also cautioned against “unregulated structures” and called on local governments to maintain drainage channels.The Red Cross described the incident as one of the “deadliest disasters in recent years to hit Niger State.” Several victims told AFP Monday that a displaced camp that the government had set up was not functional, with many electing to sleep under trees. A spokesman for Niger state emergency agency Ibrahim Husseini said the victims refused to move to the camp.”Some of them feel it is a slap on their face to go (there),” he said.With the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha only days away, the Muslim-majority community is not in the mood for the lavish celebration feasts associated with the festival.”The Sallah is going to be low-key,” Aliyu said. “On Saturday, we will have a large number of Muslims at the central mosque to offer our prayers to the departed.”The town is still in total darkness after the floods destroyed no fewer than 15 electricity poles.As residents contend with the humid weather and a shortage of water supply, the Red Cross said Mokwa faces a “high risk of disease due to contaminated water”, which may worsen the already dire situation in the weeks to come.Shettima insisted that the power situation would be resolved soon.”We are going to walk the talk,” he said.
