Maiduguri flood
Floods claimed 259 deaths in 29 states – NEMA DG
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said 172 of 774 councils are already impacted by flood nationwide with 259 deaths recorded so far.
The Director General of NEMA, Zubaida Umar, who gave a breakdown of the figures, also said 29 states were affected, with 625,239 displaced among the 1,048,312 victims nationwide.
Zubaida Umar released the statistics on Thursday at the National Emergency Coordination Forum (ECF) meeting to review strategies and reassign responsibilities in the face of current realities in the pattern and management of disasters nationwide, including worst hit Borno State.
She explained that except for the severity of the incident in Borno State due to the broken spillway of the Alau Dam, the trend does not indicate a total deviation from the predictions as contained in this year’s Annual Flood Outlook released by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), which informed that in July to September 2024, 33 states and 135 LGAs are within flood high-risk areas.
According to her, between October and November, 19 states and 44 LGAs were affected.
However, the NEMA DG commended Governor Babagana Zulum and the Borno State Emergency Management for rising to the occasion and spearheading the response, rescue, and activation of internally displaced persons (IDP) camps for affected persons.
She said NEMA and other agencies are currently providing nationwide interventions to the affected states.
“Our ongoing intervention across the affected states include deployment of additional personnel to support search and Rescue operations; distribution of water purification and critical search and Rescue equipment; provision of food and non-food items to support the affected persons and the rehabilitation of displaced populations.
People affected by floods are escorted through flood water on a military boat in Maiduguri on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP)
People affected by floods are escorted through flood water on a military vehicle in Maiduguri on September 12, 2024. (Photo by Audu MARTE / AFP)
“Through our agency, NEMA, the Federal Government commiserates with those that have been affected by the flood disaster and assures them that necessary succour will sustainably be provided.
“We appreciate the support of our humanitarian partners and look forward to the sustained collaborative efforts of all stakeholders to ameliorate the suffering of affected people and also mitigate the impact of the flooding incidents across the country,” she said.