Stranded commuters resort to canoes as flood submerges Kogi capital

Canoes were used on Monday morning by stranded commuters in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, to reach their destinations as floodwaters covered the city.

The Ajaokuta-Ganaja-Lokoja road axis, which connects the city to the eastern part of the state, was severely flooded on Sunday, according to witnesses who saw numerous inhabitants navigating their way through the floods to go around.
A resident remarked, “The flooding inundated the stretch of the road near Ganaja village such that the commuters could cross the floods only by canoes.”

“The road is strategic to socio-economic activities, linking Kogi to the eastern part of the country which has been made inaccessible now to motorists and commuters by flooding,” he said.

The canoe operators are also said to have cashed in on the development, charging passengers between N50 and N100 to ferry them across the flooded road.

A canoe operator who justified the sharp hike, said it was because of the dangers and rigours involved.

“We have to charge that high because of the cost of the rigour involved. As you can see, it’s not easy to ferry passengers across the flooded road,” he said.

The Kogi Commissioner for Environment, Victor Omofeye, has however, appealed for calm, assuring the people that the state government was aware of the development and was putting everything in place to address the situation.