…NSEMA cautions communities as 14 die agai”nst river banks activities***
Mr Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), says flooding killed more than 300 persons, injured 500 persons and displaced 100,000 others in 2022.
Ahmed announced this at an emergency technical meeting on the flood situation in the country on Monday, in Abuja.
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He said that the meeting was convened to urgently review emergency situations and plan for further action by all emergency responders.
According to him, the flood disaster affects 29 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“Our record indicates that more than 300 lives have been lost, 500 persons are seriously injured with more than 100,000 others displaced and living either in temporary shelters including schools, other public buildings among benevolent host families,” he said.
The director-general said that the agency would continue to work with the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) to downscale impact-based weather forecasts to the public.
He added that all NEMA zonal, territorial and operation offices had been activated to coordinate resources in their areas of responsibility to respond to any flood situation.
While calling for the support of state governments, Ahmed said that NEMA had prepositioned food and non-food relief items and started deploying them to affected states.
“I call on all relevant frontline responders to intensify their preparedness efforts, carry out early warning targeting the most vulnerable communities, prepare for evacuation to safer ground and provide all other forms of life saving assistance to persons at risk,” he said.
Speaking, Mr Clement Nze, Director-General, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), commended NEMA for bringing all stakeholders to brainstorm on how to save the lives and property of Nigerians.
He said that his agency had been following the trend and it was a bit disturbing that the progression of flooding, destruction, loss of lives and property, had been quite homongous.
He, however, called on state governments to take precautionary measures to avoid the impacts of flooding in their states.
In the same vein, the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) has cautioned residents of communities on flood-prone areas in the state to limit activities around river banks to avoid flooding.
He said that 14 people had died due to flooding in the Magama, Kontagora, Agwara, Rafi, Lavun, Bosso and Paikoro area of the state.
Alhaji Ahmed Inga, the Director-General of NSEMA, gave the caution in a statement issued in Minna on Monday.
He said that the warning became necessary after the directives by the Nigerian Hydrological Services for communities on River Niger in Kwara, Niger and Kogi state to relocate.
Inga added that the agency warning was coming as a result of the discharge of water from the Kainji and Jeba hydro dams located in the state.
He urged people living in riverine areas to relocate to safer grounds already identified by authorities.
According to him, dams are releasing gallons of water per minute that could lead to the overflow of River Niger.
He said that the state was already experiencing negative impacts of the flooding with houses, farmlands, bridges and linked roads being washed away in some local government areas.
He noted that the incident had rendered many homeless and had affected the socio-economic activities of the affected communities.
Inga also noted that assessments on the impact of the flood were still ongoing and periodic updates would be provided.
He called on all the stakeholders, the traditional institutions, well-to-do individuals and the media, to help in propagating information on impending flooding.
