Death toll from floods in Nigeria so far this year rises to 269

The death toll from floods that have hit Nigeria so far in 2024 has risen from 259 to 269, while more than 640,000 people have been displaced from their homes, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported on Tuesday.

“The devastating floods have exacerbated years of displacement, food insecurity and economic hardship, with disastrous consequences,” UNHCR warned in a statement, citing the latest figures released by Nigerian authorities, according to which more than one million people have been affected in 30 of the country’s 36 states.

“Communities that had begun to rebuild their lives after years of conflict and violence were affected by the floods and were displaced once again,” he added.

According to the latest data released on Sunday by Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), 1,075,485 people have been affected by the rains, while 641,127 have been displaced.

Hit area

One of the hardest hit areas of the country is Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state (northeast), after the Alau dam, located about 25 kilometers from the city, which has more than 800,000 inhabitants, overflowed on the 10th due to structural damage and heavy rainfall.

“More than 414,000 people have been affected, 389,000 displaced and 37 dead,” said NEMA Director General Zubaida Umar at a press conference on Friday.

NEMA spokesman Manzo Ezekiel said after the disaster that “approximately 70% of the city” was “under water”, blocking access to hospitals, schools and markets.

Condolences

Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has expressed his “deepest condolences to the government and people of the state, especially the families who have lost their livelihoods due to the disaster caused by the overflow of the Alau Dam.”

The disaster has exacerbated the humanitarian situation in Borno, which has been under attack by the jihadist group Boko Haram since 2009, and whose violence has worsened since 2016 with the emergence of its splinter group, the Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Lagos / EFE