A 70-year-old man, Mr Sunday Mesiobi, has died in the flood that ravaged riverine areas of Ogbaru local government area of Anambra State.
Sources said the victim was discovered dead when his cloth was found floating in the flood, They said when his floating cloth was picked up his corpse was found underneath.
LEADERSHIP Friday learnt that the flood carried the deceased from his home in Ogbe-Akpoma village, Atani community.
He was an uncle of the immediate past chairman of Ogbaru local government and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Ogbaru federal constituency in the coming general election, Arinzechukwu Awogu.
Awogu said that his uncle’s body was found in his room which was submerged by water on Wednesday.
He narrated that late Mesiobi had stayed back in the house when he evacuated his wife and children due to the ravaging flood in the area adding that he had already deposited his remains in a mortuary in Atani.
Awogu said, “It was not clear the exact time the incident happened but family sources said that his lifeless body was found when one of them came to check on him and after calling his name repeatedly without response.
They sighted his cloth floating on the water inside his room and when the cloth was pulled up it turned out that his body was under the water,” he said.
Awogu advised those whose houses had been submerged to relocate to safe areas.
He stated that the situation in the local government had been a critical emergency and appealed to the state government and National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, to do more to save the people of area.
He said “It has gone beyond asking people to converge in a particular location.
“We need more of a community-based approach where community leaders, the President General will have more direct contact with victims everywhere including holding camps,” he said.
