At least 21 states affected by the recent floods in Nigeria have received relief materials from the Federal Government, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said.
The minister made this confirmation on Tuesday, at a press briefing to keep the public abreast of response and interventions made so far by her ministry and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the flood situation across the country.
Hajiya Sadiya stated that the distribution of food and non-food items to other states were already ongoing.
She said: “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 specialised teams are on 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 specialised skills and equipment to ensure that we use other means to reach hard-to-reach areas and people at risk.
“Distribution to other states affected 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 said members of the search and rescue operation 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 the efforts to assist affected flood victims, saying, “We hope that other ministries, departments and agencies such as Water Resources, Health, Works and Housing, Agriculture and Environment will join us in the next briefing with their own updates on operations to resolve this emergency we are facing.
“I also implore government at all levels, especially states 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.
“I commend local communities for their resilience. We received a report that in 144 LGAs, local communities worked together to provide the first response to their families and neighbours.
“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.”
She expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari for “his support and timely special intervention in addressing the flood intervention.”
She added: “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 ground and provide and meet with victims and families that have been affected.”
The Special Assistant to the Minister on Media and Publicity, Nneka Ikem Anibeze, disclosed in a press statement that as at 24th October 24, 2022, 3,219,780 persons were reportedly affected by floods in 2022.
She said 1,427,370 persons have been internally displaced, approximately 2,776 persons were injured, approximately 612 people lost their lives, 181,600 houses were partially damaged and another 123,807 houses totally damaged, 176,852 hectares of farmlands were partially damaged while 392,399 hectares of farmlands have been totally damaged.
She said daily situation reports can be accessed on the ministry’s and NEMA websites.
