By Joyce Remi-Babayeju
The Federal Government has distributed relief materials to 21 states affected by the flood in recent times.
Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq confirmed the distribution of relief items to affected states at a briefing to keep the public abreast of response and interventions made so far by the ministry and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the flood situation across the country.
Farouq stated that distribution of food and non-food items to other states were already ongoing.
“ A total of 21 States have received relief materials so far. These States are Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Lagos , Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo , Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe.”
“While specialized teams are on the ground, there are still some States and local governments that are inaccessible and hard to reach. To address this, we are working with the Military Disaster Response Units and other stakeholders with specialized skills and equipment to ensure that we use other means to reach hard-to-reach areas and people at risk.”
“Distribution to other states impacted by floods in Nigeria is ongoing. The materials being distributed are emergency food items and non-food items including rice, maize, garri, vegetable oil, tin of tomatoes, seasoning and beans. The non-food items are materials used to assist with temporary shelters for displaced communities including roofing sheets, cement, nails, ceiling boards, blankets, nylon mats and zinc.”
The Minister also disclosed that the Search and Rescue Operations have been on their toes since the flooding started and have 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.
She urged other Ministries, Departments and Agencies such as Water Resources, Health, Works and Housing, Agriculture and Environment to join in briefing with their updates on operations to resolve the emergency on ground.
I also implore government at all levels, especially State and Local Governments, to share information with us and also play their role in the response, in line with the National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan, she said.
“I commend local communities for their resilience. We received a report that in 144 LGAs, local communities worked together to provide the primary 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.”
“These operations are ongoing, and I urge communities at risk to adhere to warnings and instructions issued by these teams as they work to protect and save lives.”
“Our express our sincere appreciation to his Excellency President Muhammadu BUHARI for his support and timely special intervention in addressing the flood intervention.”
“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. This will enable government to access the situation on the ground and provide and meet with victims and families that have been affected.”
Giving a rundown of the flood situation the minister said, ‘As of 24th October 2022, 3,219,780 persons were reportedly affected by floods in 2022. “
1,427,370 persons have been internally displaced, approximately 2,776 persons were injured, approximately 612 people lost their lives, 181,600 houses partially damaged and another 123,807 houses totally damaged. 176,852 hectares of farmlands partially damaged while 392,399 hectares of farmlands have been totally damaged.
