The International Human Rights Commission (IHRC) has called on the international community to assist Nigeria in cushioning the impacts of its worst flooding disaster in a decade.

Floods caused by torrential rainfall and poor drainage have swept through vast landmass, submerging and consuming lives, farms and properties along its course. The Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management on Tuesday said that “over 1.4 million persons were displaced, about 500 persons have been reported dead… and 1,546 persons were injured.”

Rhoda Ishaku Iliya, the ministry’s spokesperson in a statement added that,”Similarly, 45,249 houses were totally damaged… while 70,566 hectares of farmlands were completely destroyed.”

Reacting to the development, IHRC’s Ambassador at Large and Head of  Diplomatic Mission Nigeria, Dr Duru Hezekiah, in a statement on Saturday in Abuja described the flooding in Nigeria as unfortunate.

The statement signed by the Editor-in-Chief of its media unit, Fidelis Onakpoma, the 2022 flooding is increasingly becoming worse than those of 2012 and 2018.

Mr Hezekiah noted that he was “deeply distressed by the scope of devastation…by the rising floodwaters which have recorded human and material losses with several homes submerged in Kogi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe States among others.

He stressed that “Apart from submerging houses and farmlands, critical infrastructures such as schools, healthcare centers, police stations, banks, offices were also affected; a situation that made the state governments shut down schools in the riverine areas.

Mr Hezekiah pointed out that “the disaster requires a more comprehensive approach, disaster relief, and emergency assistance void of political, ethnic, or religious discrimination to effectively support state and local governments and their citizens”, therefore making an “appeal to other International Agencies – the International Fund for Agricultural Development, EU, NEWMAP and others to come to our aid.”

(NAN)