Ex-Navy Commander, Bayelsa Traditional Ruler Sleeps In Car As Flood Wrecks Palace

I have been trained to be the last man standing, said the traditional ruler of Tungbo town in Sagbama LGA of Bayelsa, Amos Poubinafa, who has been rendered homeless following a recent flood disaster in his community.

Naija News understands that the monarch had served in the Nigerian Navy and retired as a Lieutenant commander in 2002 before he ascended the throne years after. The former naval officer shared his ordeal with journalists and said he resorted to sleeping in his car after the flood wrecked his palace. “I have been sleeping in my Toyota Sienna for two weeks since the flood ravaged the palace. It reached the knee level and made the palace uninhabitable,” His Highness Poubinafa told newsmen in Tungbo on Monday. He added that “The car is the only safe place for me; the entire building is flooded, and there is no safer place for me to sleep. “My family has been relocated to Yenagoa. As the Captain on board (traditional ruler) this vessel, I cannot abandon my subjects to seek an alternative abode outside the town. “By my training as a naval officer, I am not expected to abandon the crew I am leading in my vessel. I am expected to be the last man standing.” Poubinafa recalled that he also suffered the same fate in 2012 when the flood affected the area, that he could not leave his subjects and relocate. He admitted that the 2012 incident was the worse situation for him. Poubinafa, however, appealed to the National Emergency Management Agency, the Bayelsa Emergency Management Agency and well-meaning Nigerians to assist flood victims in his domain. He also called on the federal government to construct dams and dredge Rivers Niger and Benue to end perennial flooding in parts of the country.

This article was originally published on Naija News