*Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, confirms 21 states of the Federation have received relief materials, including emergency food and non-food items for the affected victims

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The Federal Government has disclosed the distribution of relief items to affected victims of flood disasters has reached 21 states.

Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, stated this at a briefing to keep Nigerians abreast of response and interventions through the Ministry and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the flood situation in the West African country.

Some rescue operation workers in one of the flooded communities in Nigeria

The Minister said that distribution of food and non-food items to other states was already ongoing.

Farouq said: 鈥淎 total of 21 States have received relief materials so far.

“These States are Abia, Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Ekiti, Enugu, FCT, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Kwara, Lagos , Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo , Sokoto, Taraba and Yobe.

鈥淲hile specialised teams are on ground, there are still some states and local governments that are inaccessible and hard to reach.”

She also noted in a move to address this situation, “we are working with the Military Disaster Response Units and other stakeholders with specialised skills and equipment to ensure that we use other means to reach hard-to-reach areas and people at risk.

鈥淒istribution to other states affected by floods in Nigeria is ongoing.”

The Minister said: “The materials being distributed are emergency food items and non-food items including rice, maize, garri, vegetable oil, tin of tomatoes, seasoning and beans.

鈥淭he non-food items are materials used to assist with temporary shelters for displaced communities including roofing sheets, cement, nails, ceiling boards, blankets, nylon mats and zinc.鈥�

According to Farouq, the Search and Rescue Operations have been on their toes since the flooding started, and have continued to evacuate, relocate, and refer victims to hospitals for immediate care.

She urged other stakeholders to join in efforts at assisting affected flood victims.

The Minister further stated: 鈥淲e hope that other Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), such as Water Resources, Health, Works and Housing, Agriculture and Environment, will join us in the next briefing with their own updates on operations to resolve this emergency we are facing. “I also implore government at all levels, especially State and Local Governments, to share information with us and also play their role in the response, in line with the National Flood Emergency Preparedness and Response Plan.”

She said: 鈥淚 commend local communities for their resilience.

“We received a report that in 144 LGAs, local communities worked together to provide the first response to their families and neighbours. “The Search and Rescue Team, which is responsible for evacuating people and providing life-saving first aid and medical support and referrals to hospitals has so far been able to reach 199 local government areas within 25 states.”

Farouq noted: 鈥淭hese operations are ongoing, and I urge communities at risk to adhere to warnings and instructions issued by these teams as they work to protect and save lives.

鈥淥ur express our sincere appreciation to his Excellency President Muhammadu Buhari for his support and timely special intervention in addressing the flood intervention.”

The Minister as well said: 鈥淎 high-level delegation will visit some states next week to follow up on operations and to identify any new challenges and gaps in the operations that need to be addressed. “This will enable government to access the situation on ground and provide and meet with victims and families that have been affected.”

The Minister as well revealed that October 24, 2022, a total of 3,219,780 persons were reportedly affected by floods in this year.

While 1,427,370 persons have been internally displaced, approximately 2,776 persons were injured, approximately 612 people lost their lives, 181,600 houses were partially damaged and another 123,807 houses totally damaged.

She also stated 176,852 hectares of farmlands were partially damaged while 392,399 hectares of farmlands have been totally damaged.

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