The Nigerian Government has disclosed that the number of Nigerians affected by flooding has now risen to 3.2 million.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Sadiya Umar Farouq on Tuesday in a statement update on the situation and FG’s efforts to assist those affected.
She noted that the government has distributed relief in 21 states so far. Unfortunately, casualties have risen to 612 Nigerians, with 392,399 hectares of farmlands totally damaged.
What the minister said:
The Minister, “More than 1.4 million persons have been internally displaced; 2,776 persons were injured, 612 people lost their lives while 181,600 houses were partially damaged. Number of totally damaged houses was 123,807; 176,852 hectares of farmlands were partially damaged, while 392,399 hectares of farmlands have been totally damaged,’’ Farouq said.
“A total of 21 states have received relief materials so far. They are Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Enugu, Imo, and the FCT. Others are Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe. Specialised teams are on the ground. There are some states and local governments that are inaccessible and hard to reach.”
She further disclosed that the government was working with military disaster response units and other stakeholders with specialized skills and equipment to reach the hard-to-reach areas and people at risk, with essential relief materials like rice, beans, maize, garri, vegetable oil, tin tomatoes and seasonings.
“Others are materials to assist with temporary shelters for displaced communities. These include roofing sheets, cement, nails, ceiling boards, blankets, nylon mats, and zinc.”
She also noted that Search-and-Rescue teams had continued to evacuate, relocate and refer victims to hospitals, citing that they are responsible for evacuating people and providing first aid and medical support and referrals to hospitals have been able to reach 199 local government areas in 25 states.
“The operations are ongoing and I urge communities at risk to adhere to warnings and instructions issued by the teams as they work to protect and save lives. We hope that government organs such as Water Resources, Health, Works and Housing, Agriculture, and Environment ministries will give their own updates on operations to resolve the emergency,” she said.
The Miniter said a high-level delegation will 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, to enable the government to access the situation and provide and meet with victims and families that have been affected.