The North East Development Commission (NEDC) has initiated the evacuation of one million metres of drainage system in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba and Bauchi states.
The NEDC Managing Director, Mr Mohammed Alkali, made this known in Maiduguri while inspecting the desilting exercise in Maiduguri town.
Alkali said the exercise which involved the desilting of over one million metres of drainage system in the six states, was to mitigate flooding.
“In Maiduguri, we are desilting 250,000 metres of drainages. We are going to do similar interventions in other states,” Alkali said.
He noted that the exercise has provided jobs for many youths, adding that other areas of intervention by the commission to contain global warming included installations of solar street lights.
“We are also engaged in improving Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH).”
According to him, the commission is also looking into creating dump sites and facilities to harness waste to wealth.
In July, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) restated its warning that 31 states were at risk of high and moderate flooding.
NEMA director general, Mrs Zubaida Umar, who spoke at the 2024 Flood Early Warnings Sensitisation Programme said community participation was critical to mitigating flooding.
The states are Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno and Cross-River.
Others are Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe.
NAN
