Schools in Nigeria’s southern state of Bayelsa will remain closed until further assessments are made due to flooding caused by heavy rain, the state governor said Saturday.
This was because of the need to protect the vulnerable children from water-borne diseases, governor Seriake Dickson said in Yenagoa, the state capital, adding that schools shut on Sept. 29 because of flooding in the state would only reopen when it was safe to do so.
The governor said while the flood had started to recede, the government was more concerned about the health and safety of the children.
He said the government was taking steps to ensure proper sanitation of all the schools, including the ones that were converted to camps for displaced persons, before children were allowed into them.
According to Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, nearly half a million people were affected by flooding in 8 states of the country. At least 108 people have died in the flooding, with a further 192 injured.
XINHUA |
