To avert needless deaths, the Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has advised citizens against walking through floodwater.

The warning was given in an interview on Sunday, October 22 2023, in Abuja by Mrs. Florence Wenegieme, Director of Forecasting Response and Mitigation at FEMA.

In response to the death of a 31-year-old motorcyclist in Abuja on Friday, Wenegieme urged the locals to heed FEMA’s warnings to avoid an untimely and avoidable mortality.

According to NAN, Yakubu Lucky, the dead, disregarded warnings from the local divers stationed at Dogon Gada in the Lokogoma District of the FCT by FEMA during a heavy downpour on Friday, drove into a pool of water and drowned.

She emphasized that FEMA barred the route to prevent people from entering and leaving the hamlet whenever the road was inundated, claiming that the tragedy might have been avoided.

To deter people, we have vanguards and local divers stationed there. Additionally, we have placed billboards in other hazardous locations alerting locals not to drive or walk through running water.

But individuals ignore our warnings, which causes avoidable deaths. “In Lucky’s case, he was on a motorcycle and believed he knew the road extremely well; as a result, he drove through the barricade and into the floodwater pool, which caused his premature death.

The director explained that FEMA had been running significant awareness programs all year to educate citizens on safety during floods and other calamities.

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She expressed concern that some individuals continued to disregard FEMA’s cautions against crossing floodwaters despite several community awareness programs.

We’ll warn locals not to take any actions that could endanger their lives in an emergency or tragedy. We ask the locals to work with us and heed our warnings and recommendations as we do our part to keep the community secure.

“To ensure prompt emergency response, our trained local divers, volunteers, vanguards, and emergency marshalls are in every town. Additionally, they are present to assist and caution locals in times of need.

She urged, “Please listen to them and follow their instructions to keep everyone safe.