As a result of heavy downpour which caused a major river overflow it banks in Wase Local Government Area of Plateau State, hectares of farms cultivated with crops that are already maturing for harvest have been swamped in two communities of the Council.

Two neighbouring communities of Gimbi and Mavo adjoining the Wase River have suffered heavy losses from the devastating floods which have stagnated storm waters on their farms above knee levels.

Narrating his ordeal to our correspondent, Nanpon Nanzing a resident of Mavo said, “Some crops have been washed off completely, while others are taken up by the floods which pulled up storm waters to above knee level.

Nanzing, who is one of many victims to have suffered losses to the raging floods told our correspondent in a telephone interview that the disaster first hit Gimbi, a neighbouring community, and then continued onto his town of Mavo, also on the banks of the river which has swelled up in width in the last two weeks of sustained downpours.

“We have lost all our farms; every crop gone. The crops were all maturing for harvest.” He decried.

The Victim said the communities affected are some of the major producers of rice, guinea corn, maize, groundnuts, yams among others; all of which have been washed away, or swamped by storm waters from the river.

But he said houses and other property were not affected by the floods which have lasted for over two weeks now.

It would be recalled that, Wase is one of four LGAs, in the Southern Senatorial Zone of the State where floods with devastating effects forced relevant authorities to issue warning alert for people to relocate to safer areas. The others are Shendam, where four bridges are been threatened along Longvell River, and Mikang as well as Qua’an Pan. All areas are located along various tributaries of the Benue River, which width banks have overflowed at various points.

Also, Wase was among many areas hit by the devastating floods of 2012, which displaced thousands of residents after their homes were either washed away, or swamped. That year too, the people of Mavo and Gimbi lost farms and are still recovering from the effect when this season of floods came.

In 2012, two bridges along the river in the area were also washed off, and have only been partly reconstructed.

Reacting to the unfortunate incident, Management Committee Chairman of Wase LGA, Dr. Ado Buba described the incident as “another unfortunate threat to food security,” saying there are hardly farms that are still standing in the two communities.

Buba appealed to both the State and Federal Governments, international intervention bodies and well meaning individuals to come to the aid of the communities to stave off food shortage.

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Immense floods destroy farmlands in Wase LGA