Floods displace 1.4 million, injures 2776, kills 612 in Nigeria as FG shares relief materials to 21 states
The Nigerian government has revealed that 1,427,370 persons have been internally displaced, approximately 2,776 persons injured, while 612 persons have lost their lives due to the devastating effects of the floods across the country.
The government claimed it has distributed relief items to 21 states affected by the floods.
The minister of humanitarian affairs, disaster management and social development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, disclosed this on Tuesday while updating the public on the interventions made by the ministry and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the flood situation across the country.
According to her, the 21 states are Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe.
Giving update on the flooding, she said as of October 24, 2022, about 3,219,780 persons were reportedly affected by floods this year.
Also, 181,600 houses were partially damaged and another 123,807 houses totally damaged. In addition, 176,852 hectares of farmlands were partially damaged while 392,399 hectares of farmlands have been totally damaged.
She said while specialised teams were on ground, there were still some states and local governments still inaccessible and hard to reach.
The minister said the federal government was liaising with the Military Disaster Response Units and other stakeholders with specialised skills and equipment to ensure that they use other means to reach hard-to-reach areas and people at risk.
She added that the Search and Rescue Operations had been on their toes since the flooding started and had continued to evacuate, relocate and refer victims to hospitals for immediate care. She called on other stakeholders to join in efforts to assist affected flood victims.
“I commend local communities for their resilience. We received a report that in 144 LGAs, local communities worked together to provide the first response to their families and neighbors. The Search and Rescue Team, which is responsible for evacuating people and providing life-saving first aid and medical support and referrals to hospitals has so far been able to reach 199 local government areas within 25 states,” she said.
She stressed that a high-level delegation would visit some states next week to follow up on operations and to identify any new challenges and gaps in the operations that need to be addressed.
Meanwhile, the minister of defence, Major Gen Bashir Magashi (rtd), yesterday called for national resilience following the devastating flood across the nation.
Also, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked government at all levels to ensure adequate compensation for lives lost and property destroyed in the devastating flooding across the country.
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