By Samuel Oyadongha
Yenagoa—The Amnesty Office, yesterday, expressed concern over the magnitude of destruction inflicted on Niger Delta by the recent flood, saying the greatest challenge facing the region would be how to manage the disaster caused by the deluge.

Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme and Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, in Yenagoa while presenting three truckloads of relief materials to the state government for victims of the flood, said the aftermath of the disaster would be more challenging than the disaster itself.

Represented by Mr. Tawari Dortimi, Kuku called on all the affected states to  map out strategies to contend with the challenges ahead.

According to him, “The flood is receding. But the greatest challenge ahead is what will happen after the flood has receded. It will be more challenging managing the aftermath of the disaster than the disaster itself.”

He said there was the need to tackle the effects of the flood on the health of the people, noting that the ex-militants undergoing training under the supervision of his office, contributed over N52 million to assist the states in the region to ease the burden on the governments and help ameliorate the pains of the victims.

According to him, they agreed that N2,000 should be deducted from their monthly stipends to support the victims.

Presenting the relief materials which consisted of rice, garri, beans, noodles, mosquito treated nets, water, palm oil and ground oil, mattresses, medical consumables among others to the Deputy Governor, Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd),  Kuku said the items  were the share of the state from the money contributed by the ex militants.

Describing the state as the centre of the struggle that led to the amnesty programme, he said many of the ex-militants were indigenes of most of the flooded communities in the state.

In his remarks, the deputy governor, said the government had held series of meetings to develop post disaster management, saying that government was also worried about transporting relief materials to displaced persons in remote areas.

”Our post flood management strategies will include policies in agriculture. We are thinking of how to get our food back to avoid food shortage. We are brainstorming to know how to reduce he pains”, he said.