Lives at risk as Edo residents reject flood evacuation orders

By Jethro Ibileke

The Edo State Emergency Management Agency (EDOSEMA) has identified resistance to evacuation by residents of flood-prone communities as one of the biggest obstacles to its disaster response efforts.

Executive Secretary of the agency, Jerry Idahosa, said many people refuse to leave their ancestral homes despite repeated warnings about the dangers posed by rising floodwaters.

He explained that emergency officials are unable to force people to evacuate, even when their lives and property are at serious risk.

“Many residents often resist evacuation from their communities despite threat to their life and repeated warnings about the dangers associated with rising flood and living with it,” Idahosa said.

According to him, emotional attachment to ancestral communities often outweighs concerns about personal safety.

“During flood disaster, most of those affected in flood prone communities insist on remaining in their communities because of their deep attachment to their ancestral homes.

“When we go for evacuation, majority of those affected would tell you ‘this is our ancestral homes, we don’t want to leave.’ And they forget that their safety is what matters most at that moment,” he said.

Idahosa stressed that evacuation exercises are carried out solely to safeguard lives and do not amount to permanent displacement.

He noted that affected residents are free to return to their homes once floodwaters have subsided.

“What matter to us during flood is the safety of residents, because they are not leaving their home permanently but just temporarily until the flood waters recede,” he said.

To improve compliance, the agency has stepped up engagement with traditional rulers, community leaders and local emergency committees, whose influence within affected communities is expected to encourage residents to relocate when necessary.

Idahosa also urged people living in vulnerable areas to pay close attention to flood alerts and comply with safety directives issued by the state government and emergency management authorities.

He added that EDOSEMA continues to monitor water levels across flood-prone local government areas through Local Emergency Committees established to provide early warning and coordinate emergency response.