[UPDATE] Flood: FG distributes relief materials to 21 states, says Farouq

The federal government has distributed relief materials to 21 states across the country affected by flooding, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar Farouq, has said.

Farouq, speaking at a briefing she held to update the public on the government’s response efforts to the natural disaster, explained that the interventions were made by her ministry and the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.

The items, she explained, were both food and non-food items.

The minister said:“ A 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.

“While specialized teams are on the ground, there are still some States and local governments that are inaccessible and hard to reach. To address this, we are working with the Military Disaster Response Units and other stakeholders with specialized skills and equipment to ensure that we use other means to reach hard-to-reach areas and people at risk.

“Distribution to other states affected by floods in Nigeria is ongoing. The materials being distributed are emergency food items and non-food items including rice, maize, garri, vegetable oil, a tin of tomatoes, seasoning and beans. The 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”.

Farouq, who also said the search and rescue operations teams have been on their toes since the flooding started and have continued to evacuate, relocate and refer victims to hospitals for immediate care, appealed to stakeholders to join in efforts to assist affected flood victims.

She said:“We hope that other Ministries, Departments and Agencies 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.

“I 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.

“These 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.

“Our express our sincere appreciation to his Excellency President Muhammadu BUHARI for his support and timely special intervention in addressing the flood intervention”.

“A 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 the government to access the situation on the ground and provide and meet with victims and families that have been affected.”.

As of October 24, 2022, a total of 3,219,780 persons were reportedly affected by floods across the country.

Also, 1,427,370 persons were internally displaced with approximately 2,776 persons injured.

Also, approximately 612 people lost their lives, 181,600 houses were partially damaged and another 123,807 houses totally damaged as at the time.

Similarly, 176,852 hectares of farmlands were partially damaged while 392,399 hectares of farmlands have been totally damaged within the period under review.