Niger currently has more than 5,000 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the deputy governor, Yakubu Garba, said in Abuja on Thursday.

He told the director-general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Ahmed, whom he visited, that banditry and flooding contributed to the rising figure.

“We have about 5,000 IDPs to 6,000 IDPs and we are still counting, but God willing, we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure the situation is curtailed.

“The essence of this visit to NEMA is to acquaint the agency with some emergency situations ravaging Niger in the past six years to seven years.

“We have been ravaged by insecurity and floods have worsened the situation.

“I am here to brief NEMA so that we can collaborate to ameliorate the situation,’’ he said.

He said NEMA and the Niger state emergency management agency had embarked on sensitisation campaign to alert residents of the state about impending floods in 2023.

Mr Garba called on Niger residents living in flood plains to relocate to higher land to avoid loss of lives and property.

Responding, Mr Ahmed commended Niger for the proactive measures it had put in place to avert flood.

“The state is doing quite a lot as it has been clearing drainages, water channels and so on.

“It is also evident that Niger has become more proactive. We will give it all the support we can as an agency of the federal government,’’ Mr Ahmed assured.

(NAN)