The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) had the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) commiserated with the government and people of Niger State on the death of 48 people and some livestock in a petroleum tanker explosion along Bida-Agaie-Lapai highway in the state.
The NGF, in a statement personally signed by its chairman and Governor of Kwara State, AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, specifically commiserated with the families of the victims, prayed for the repose of their souls and wished those injured in the accident safe recovery.
The Forum said the incident again underscores the need for all road users to prioritise safety at all times.
The NGF similarly expressed its solidarity with the governments and people of Borno and Yobe States as flooding ravaged parts of and displaced thousands of residents of Maiduguri City and Jere (both in Borno) and some local government areas of Yobe State.
Meanwhile, the apex northern sociocultural group, Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has commiserated with people across the Northern States, and indeed other areas in Nigeria, over the deluge of water from flooded rivers, streams, other water courses and bursts or release of overflows from dams which resulted in catastrophic inundation of several communities, leaving in their wake tales of woes including deaths, property losses and disruptions to livelihoods.
This is even as the forum calls for strict enforcement of town/regional planning laws and regulations to avoid such unforeseen circumstances.
In a statement issued by the national publicity Secretary, Professor T.A Muhammad Baba, ACF said the floods could not have come at worse times than now when Nigerians are battling many economic challenges.
“For example, on Tuesday, 10th September 2024, Nigerians woke up to be inundated with heart-wrenching video clips of water swarming Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, which flooded homes, streets, and other property, bringing life to a standstill.
“Earlier, weeks of rain in other parts of the North have resulted in submerged homes and farmlands, water dam bursts, broken infrastructures, collapsed bridges, cutting off of major highways, in many states. The sad sounds and images from Maiduguri are symptomatic of the situation in many communities across the states, with no end in sight,” ACF said while regretting the dire situation in which people and communities have found themselves.