Following the devastating flood that has submerged parts of Lakoja, the Kogi state capital, the area office of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) said it has commenced provision of ferry services as a temporary measure to ease the transportation challenges of commuters stranded on the Abuja-Lokoja highway.
The decision, spokesman of the agency followed a directive by the NIWA Managing Director, Dr George Moghalu for the agency to deploy necessary measures to ensure travellers ordeals are ameliorated.
In a statement, NIWA’s General Manager, Corporate Affairs, Jibrin Darda’u, says areas affected by the heavy flooding on the highway leading to passengers getting stranded for days are Lokoja and Koton Karfe in Kogi State.
NIWA gauge readers in Lokoja, the release says, has confirmed that the 2012 flood level was 12.84 meters. But the guage reader in 2022 reads 13.22 meters, thus surpassing the 2012 record by 0.38 meters.
The 2022 flooding, Darda’u said, has overtaken major roads in Ajaokuta, Lokoja and Koton Karfe Local Government Areas of the state just as the situation has created serious hardship for travelers from or through Lokoja to Abuja and vice versa.
