Vice-President Kashim Shettima on Tuesday conveyed President Bola Tinubu’s sympathy to all the victims of flood disasters nationwide.
Shettima conveyed the President’s message while speaking at the 17th Annual Banking and Finance Conference organised by the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) in Abuja.
The theme of the conference is: “Accelerated Economic Growth and Development: the State of Play and the Way Forward.”
The Vice President used the forum to commiserate with Nigerians over the flood disasters across the length and breath of the nation.
“After this meeting, with the consent of the President I will rush to Maiduguri, which has been overtaken by flood.
“It is not peculiar to one part of the country. We are facing this challenge right from Bayelsa to Sokoto.
“Be rest assured that the President has the nation at heart and will do whatever it takes to salvage the state of affairs,” Shettima stated.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that many residents of Maiduguri, Borno, have been displaced by flood following the collapse of water channels at the Alau Dam.
The flood submerged residential quarters, roads and bridges, making many areas in the metropolis inaccessible.
A NAN correspondent, who went round the metropolis, reports that the flood submerged strategic areas, including parts of the Shehu of Borno Palace, Maiduguri Central Market and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital.
Other areas badly hit include the GRA, Maiduguri Zoo, College of Nursing, College of Agriculture and School of Health Technology, among others.
Many residents were seen evacuating basic items to areas considered safer, with some youths erecting sandbags to prevent water from entering their quarters.
The state government is yet to issue official figures of casualities, but it has ordered the closure of public and private schools for two weeks.(NAN)