The Nasarawa State Government has directed residents in flood-prone areas to relocate in their best interest.

This followed the recent prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency that 31 states including Nasarawa State would experience flooding in 2024,

Permanent Secretary in the state’s Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Garba Mohammed, stated this while speaking to journalists on Saturday in Lafia after the monthly sanitation exercise.

Mr Mohammed said that the government had set up a task force to sensitise the people living to flood-prone areas that the decision to relocate would be in their best interest.

He said that the government had commenced evacuation of drains in Lafia and other major urban centres to ensure the free flow of water.

According to him, the ministry is working with the chairmen of local government areas to replicate similar exercises at the local government level.

The permanent secretary expressed satisfaction with the residents’ level of compliance with the sanitation exercise by cleaning their houses, shops as well as their environments during the period.

He noted that shops and business environments were temporarily closed and movement was restricted within the period except for those on essential services.

The permanent secretary urged the people to sustain the level of compliance and always keep their environments clean to guard against the outbreaks of diseases.

Meanwhile, Chief Prosecution Officer of the Sanitation Mobile Court, Dr Abubakar Mohammed, said that 122 persons were apprehended in the state over alleged violations of environmental sanitation laws.

Mr Mohammed who is also the Director, Enforcement and Compliance, Waste Management and Sanitation Authority, said that the defaulters were found transacting their businesses and driving around during the sanitation hours. (NAN).