Flood killed 68 People, Destroyed 320 LGs In Nigeria-NEMA

The National Emergency Management Agency has announced that about 68 lives have so far been lost to flooding incidents across Nigeria this year.

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The Director-General, NEMA, Muhammadu Muhammed, speaking at the 2020 Technical Review Meeting in Abuja, said that about 320 Local Government Areas were affected by the flood in 35 states as well as in the Federal Capital Territory.

He said, “The devastating impact of the 2020 flooding killed 68 people, affected 35 states including FCT, 320 LGAs and over 129,000 people.

“It led to loss of lives, it destroyed houses and washed away farmlands across the country thereby having a negative impact on food security.”

He explained that the technical meeting is aimed at reviewing various activities carried out in response to mitigate the impact of the flood.

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“After the release of the Seasonal Rainfall Prediction by NiMet and the Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Agency, our worst fear was confirmed with the devastating flood disaster within the pandemic,” he stated.

He said the review was done to capture lessons learnt and to make recommendations that could improve the ability of institutions to coordinate actions that would guide future actions on flooding in Nigeria.

Farmers were the most affected by the flooding as Over 450,000 hectares of rice farmlands and other crops have been washed off by flooding in Kebbi State alone
The Federal Government had promised to mitigate the impact by ensuring that the affected farmers get improved seeds to restart planting as soon as the rains recede.
The Minister of Agriculture, Muhammad Sabo Nanono had said it was one of the worst disasters witnessed in recent times.

He said, “What I have seen here today is very devastating, my coming here is at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari who has sent me to commiserate with the people of Kebbi State over the flood and to give you hope and assurance that the government is concerned about your plight and will do something.”

The Minister who visited the scenes of the floods in Argungu and also those along the Dukku- Makera Road that were completely washed off, appealed to the farmers not to despair.

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He added that the Federal Government would address the situation.

He acknowledged that Kebbi State is one of the major producers of rice in the country as well as other crops such as maize, groundnuts, wheat, sweet potatoes, sorghum and millet, stating that a loss to Kebbi will affect other states of the federation.

Nanono said the ministry will immediately set up a special committee to mitigate the situation and ensure that the dry season farming will be boosted.

“The ministry will also encourage the farmers to explore the innovative early harvesting of their produce as is done with other crops and assist them with improved seeds,” he added.

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