By Sandra Kenneth
Rising floodwaters have completely submerged farmlands and severed access to the Ula-Ikata community in Upata Kingdom, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State, leaving residents stranded and facing imminent food shortages.
Speaking on the disaster, the traditional ruler of the community, Chief Clement Onyiri, revealed that residents are effectively trapped as primary access roads are entirely covered by water, making vehicular movement into or out of the town impossible.
Chief Onyiri emphasized that agriculture—the community’s sole economic mainstay—has been severely crippled, with vast hectares of crops, particularly staple cassava farms, completely destroyed by the swelling waters.
“Surviving is becoming increasingly difficult for our people,” Chief Onyiri stated.
“Aside from being cut off from the rest of the world, our farm produce has been totally destroyed. Our food reserves are nearly exhausted, and we urgently need help.”
Corroborating the monarch’s account, community members disclosed that residents must now resort to swimming across flooded tracts to reach the main road and access nearby markets.
While the floodwaters have primarily inundated surrounding farmlands and access corridors rather than residential quarters, the widespread destruction of crops has triggered severe anxiety over acute food insecurity in the coming weeks.
Community leaders and affected residents have appealed to local, state, and federal government authorities, alongside humanitarian agencies, to urgently deploy relief materials, emergency food supplies, and agricultural support to avert a full-blown humanitarian crisis.
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