LAGOS, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- An official with Nigeria's emergency management agency warned on Thursday three southern states of the country may be affected by floods as the rain season intensifies in the coming days.
Godwin Tepikor, the coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency(NEMA) in the southern region, made the warning at a news conference in the southern city of Port Harcourt on Thursday, calling on the governments of Rivers, Bayelsa, and Cross-River states to relocate their flood-prone communities to safer, higher grounds.
Tepikor urged the emergency management agencies in the three states to prepare adequately for the flood prediction.
"State emergency management agencies should intensify efforts to move communities that are at risk to higher ground," he said.
Tepikor also called on the state governments to stockpile foodstuffs and non-food items, potable water, and safety and security devices to enable evacuated people to have a fair level of comfort during their period of displacement.
The NEMA director-general Mustapha Habib Ahmed said at a technical meeting on Monday in Abuja at least 300 people have been killed in separate flood-related incidents in Nigeria so far this year as heavy downpours continue to lash the country. ■