Moa Flood Victims Cling to Hope Amid Recovery Struggle
MOA, NIGER STATE – Business owners in Moa, Niger State, who bore the brunt of a devastating flood, are expressing a cautious optimism for intervention as they grapple with the immense challenge of recovering from the disaster. Though the floodwaters have receded, the deep scars of destruction remain etched across the community.
Chennibi reports that the scale of loss is staggering. Business proprietors are still meticulously calculating their damages, with structures, industrial machinery, and valuable goods, amounting to millions of naira, all swept away by the raging waters. Despite ongoing aid distributions and the promise of a government resettlement plan, the business community finds itself in a precarious state of limbo.
One affected factory manager, displaying his company registration documents, recounted the harrowing experience. His facility, a part of what was once a bustling block of rice mill and groundnut oil processing factories now filled with sand, lost industrial machines alone worth tens of millions of naira. He added that truckloads of groundnuts, rice, and gallons of processed oil were also destroyed. "We used to go to Abuja State and take it, I take a food trailer, a food trailer that we are taking now, we are taking it at at least about ₦45 million," he lamented. "So we don't talk of all this engine. So as rough estimate here now we can talk about ₦300 million that we lost, not for the building, for the engines and also the goods we store down inside the factory. We started this business since 2012, since when I finished my service. I finished my service 2012, without any help so I have to start somewhere."
The human cost of the flood is even more profound, with some victims sharing deeply distressing personal tales. One man recounted how he had gone to assist his brother at a mining site when the flood suddenly hit. By the time they returned, the merciless waters had tragically swept away their wives and children. Heartbreakingly, one of the women was reportedly due to give birth on that very day.
In response to the crisis, the government has pledged to provide temporary housing funds for displaced residents, concurrently working on a more permanent resettlement solution. Governor Umaru has indicated that the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp established after the flood is slated for closure by the end of June. The affected community, though scarred, holds onto the hope that these government interventions will materialize and provide the much-needed lifeline to rebuild their lives and livelihoods.
