SOLYMONE BLOG

MILLIONS PEOPLE IN NIGERIA DISPLACED BY FLOODS


Almost half of the population in Nigeria's central-northern Jigawa state has been displaced after authorities had to open floodgates on two swollen rivers.
"We have about two million people affected," in a state which has 4.3 million people, Umar Kyari, the spokesman of Jigawa state, said on Friday.
  • He said the flooding was caused after authorities opened floodgates of the Challawa and Tiga dams in neighbouring Kano state to avoid overflowing following heavy rains.
  • "When the rains became too much they realised the water was too much and opened the dams," Kyari told AFP news agency from Dutse, the capital of Jigawa state.
  • "Over 5,000 villages in 11 of our 27 local government areas were affected. It started more than two months ago and it's continuing as I speak," he said.
  • Aminu Mohammed, the state information commissioner, said local officials had begun putting displaced families in rural schoolhouses and other government buildings out of the reach of the flood waters.
  • "The flood has washed away all the farms and houses," he said.
  • Flood waters have submerged about 90,000 hectares [222,400 acres] of farmland with food and livestock estimated at 4.5bn naira [$30m] destroyed.
  • Seyi Soremekun, a spokesman for the Nigerian Red Cross, said volunteers had already reached Jigawa and Sokoto states to offer assistance.
  • "I think the most pressing need is how to put the victims, those affected, in shelter from the harsh weather," Soremekun said.
  • "They need blankets; they need some personal effects to at least deal with or absorb the shock of displacement."
  • Kyari said that although the floodgates are opened almost every year to avoid overflowing and waters wash away villages on the low-lying plains of the state, "this year is just very bad".
Nigeria, an oil-rich nation of 150 million in West Africa, typically has strong seasonal rains that wash through the country. However, this year has seen particularly strong rains that already broke a dam and flowed over levees in another northern state.
Source: The Agencies
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