President Muhammadu Buhari has approved emergency management plans to mitigate the impact of flooding nationwide, as 500 people died and 1.4 million were displaced from their homes.

Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development permanent secretary, disclosed this at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja.

“It is on record that over 1.4 million persons were displaced, with about 500 persons being reported dead, 790,254 persons moved out of their locations, while 1,546 persons were injured,” the Nigerian official stated. 

The official further disclosed that “44,099 houses were partially damaged, 45,249 houses totally damaged, 76,168 hectares of farmlands were partially destroyed, while 70,566 hectares of farmlands were completely destroyed.”

Mr Sani-Gwarzo announced this after the emergency meeting on the flood situation with relevant stakeholders in Abuja, saying the government had approved the National Emergency Flood Preparedness and Response Plans to mitigate and reduce the impact of the flood nationwide.

He said that experts responsible for controlling flood disasters had informed the committee that the scale of the 2022 flooding was similar to that of 2012.

He added, “The National Emergency Flood Preparedness and Response Plans for Nigeria has just been approved by the Federal Executive Council and it contains all the details of the roadmap that needs to be done. It includes the immediate, short-term and long-term plans, and therefore, we have a clear view of what to do and how to go about it, mitigate and reduce the impact of flood in the country.”

He noted that the regime was “taking all the necessary actions to bring relief to the people affected by the flood” and that “all the concerned agencies have renewed their commitment to strengthen their efforts in reaching out to the victims and bring relief to them.”

(NAN)