Over Half A Million People In Nigeria Affected By Floods This Year

More than half a million people in Nigeria have been impacted by the flooding that has swept through 22 states and the capital since January, according to a statement from the country’s President Muhammadu Buhari. 

“From the latest briefing I’ve received, flooding has affected about 500,000 Nigerians since the beginning of 2022 in 22 states and the FCT (Federal Capital Territory). I want to assure that the Federal Govt will continue to monitor the situation closely and to support the affected States & communities,” the President said on Tuesday. 

A more comprehensive statement from a senior aide revealed that 508,721 people were affected by flooding across the country, with incidents recorded in the southern states of Edo, Delta, Ebonyi, Anambra, Imo, Abia, and the economic hub of Lagos.  In the country’s north, flooding was recorded in Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, and the Federal Capital Territory. 

“The destructive floods have displaced 73,379 people, recorded 115 casualties, and injured 277 people,” the presidency said, based on data available from relevant government bodies. It added that “the floods and heavy rain have left around 37,633 houses destroyed or severely damaged.”

Earlier in the year, Nigerian Meteorological Agency and  Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency had released rainfall and flood warning data which could have helped the states prepare to mitigate and respond to potential risks. 

The Annual Flood Outlook from the Hydrological agency had predicted that 233 local government areas in 32 states were within Highly Probable Flood Risks Areas, while 212 local government areas in 35 states, including the capital, fell in the Moderately Probable Flood Risks Areas. 

HumAngle has reported on a series of the devastation caused by flood disasters, especially in the Northeast where the local population are already struggling with the impact of prolonged conflict that has displaced over two million people and left more than eight million in need of humanitarian assistance. 

Officials of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency recently stated that four lives were lost and more than 7,000 households displaced in communities bordering the neighbouring state of Borno. 

Yobe has suffered extreme flooding, one of the worst incidents in decades. In Borno, displaced persons have also been affected, with shelters either damaged or flooded by water in parts of the state. In Adamawa, the emergency agency recently disclosed that seven persons were killed and 74,713 displaced by flood in 16 local government areas. 

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs had previously revealed that some 43,155 people across 26 local government areas in the three states had been affected by flooding since the beginning of the rainy season.