October 26, 2022

The Federal Government says it has distributed relief materials to 21 states affected by floods.

Hajiya Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development made the declaration in statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja.

The statement was signed by her media aide, Mrs. Nneka Anibeze.

According to the minister, more than 3.2 million persons were reportedly affected by the 2022 floods as at Oct. 24.

“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.

She added that distribution of food and non-food items to more states were on-going as government was prepared to assist all the affected states.

“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 ground. There are some states and local governments that are inaccessible and hard to reach.

“To address this, we are working with military’s disaster response units and other stakeholders with specialised skills and equipment to reach the hard-to-reach areas and people at risk.

“Materials distributed included 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,’’ Farouq said.

The minister added that Search-and-Rescue teams had continued to evacuate, relocate and refer victims to hospitals and enjoined other stakeholders to join in the efforts to assist victims.

“The teams which are responsible for evacuating people and providing first aid and medical supports and referrals to hospitals have been able to reach 199 local government areas in 25 states.

“The operations are on-going 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.

“I also implore states and local governments to share information with us and also respond 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 local government areas and communities worked together to provide the first response for victims.

“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 and provide and meet with victims and families that have been affected,’’ Farouq stressed. (NAN)