Delivering lifesaving health services for flood-displaced families in Nigeria

Borno state, in northeastern Nigeria, has been severely impacted by recent floods, which have displaced more than 400 000 people and led to 37 deaths. The flooding, mostly affecting the municipal area of Maiduguri, the state’s capital, has also caused significant damage to agricultural land and infrastructure, including health facilities. Almost 90 000 vulnerable people have been forced to take shelter in temporary camps with limited access to food, clean water and health services.

Displaced populations are at especially high risk from malnutrition, and diseases such as cholera, malaria and measles, in a region where already fragile health systems are under considerable additional strain.

Aisha Mafa, a mother of five, relocated to Gubio camp on the outskirts of Maiduguri, after floods displaced her family from their home in Old Maiduguri district in September 2024. Soon afterwards, one of her children fell ill with a high fever. "My friends advised me to take him to the clinic at the camp, where services were free," Mafa recalls.

Recognizing the urgent health needs of displaced people, World Health Organization (WHO), with financial support from USAID and the Government of Germany, deployed five mobile health teams comprising 35 public health experts, to assist local health authorities in Gubio, as well as four other temporary camps in Maiduguri municipal area.

The health workers quickly diagnosed Mafa’s son with malaria and provided treatment. Within days, his condition has improved. "Without the health workers, I don’t know what would have happened to my son," Mafa says. “I take comfort to know that my children and I can get free health services here.”

“Since we started, we’ve treated around 9000 people,” says Martha Sini, the Local Government Area Facilitator for the mobile health team in Gubio camp, which is currently home to more than 36 000 displaced people. “Routine immunization, maternal care and clinical services are vital for protecting the health of the community, especially women and children.”

Children in temporary camps like Gubio are at particularly high risk from vaccine-preventable diseases. To address this, mobile health teams have conducted regular vaccination drives, reaching over 12 300 children since the start of the floods in mid-September 2024. Vaccines include those recommended in the current state routine immunization schedule and coverage includes children who have missed doses because of being displaced.

Such efforts have been integrated into the state government’s existing cholera, measles and vitamin A vaccination campaigns, ensuring more comprehensive protection for these vulnerable populations.

Maternal health is another key focus for the mobile health teams. In Gubio camp’s two-room clinic, health teams provide prenatal check-ups, postpartum care, routine immunization and nutritional support to pregnant women while educating them on the importance of skilled birth attendance. Since the start of the floods, these services have been integral to helping to ensure safe pregnancies and deliveries for over 20 000 displaced women in the absence of hospital access.

Huawa Ali, who is seven months pregnant and was displaced by the floods from her home in the Gwange district of Maiduguri, is one of the many health clients to visit the antenatal clinic. “I am so grateful for this care. Without it, I wouldn’t have known if my baby was safe. Now, I feel more confident about my pregnancy,” she says.

Beyond immediate medical care, WHO also supports Borno state in enhancing surveillance activities. Over 150 community health volunteers have been deployed to conduct active case finding for priority diseases and house-to-house sensitization to improve health-seeking behaviour within the camps and host communities.

So far, 34 camps and over 93 000 households have been reached and sensitized on preventive measures for epidemic-prone diseases and good household practices.

"For the families in temporary camps, the presence of our mobile health teams offers more than just medical care, it provides hope for a healthier future, for their children’s well-being, and hope that they will overcome the challenges of displacement,” says Dr Walter Mulombo, WHO Representative for Nigeria.

WHO Africa

Millions of Nigerians go hungry as floods compound hardship

Unrelenting price rises and a brutal insurgency had already made it hard for Nigerians in northeastern Borno State to feed their families. When a dam collapsed in September, flooding the state capital and surrounding farmland, many people ran out of options.

Now they queue for handouts in camps for those displaced by fighting between extremist Boko Haram rebels and the military. When those run out, they seek work on local farms where they risk being killed or raped by local bandits.

"I can't even cry anymore. I'm too tired," said Indo Usman, who tried to start again in the state capital Maiduguri, rearing animals for the two annual Muslim holy days, after years of repeatedly fleeing rebel attacks in rural Borno.

The flood washed that all away, driving her, her husband and their six children to a bare room at Gubio, an unfinished housing project about 96 km (60 miles) northwest of Maiduguri that has become a displacement camp.

Torrential rains and floods in 29 of Nigeria's 36 states this year have destroyed more than 1.5 million hectares of cropland, affecting more than nine million people, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

Climate change is a factor, as is Nigeria's poorly maintained or non-existent infrastructure as well as vulnerabilities caused by the weakening Naira currency and the scrapping of a government fuel subsidy.

The cost of staples like rice and beans has doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in a year, depending on location -- an unmanageable shock for millions of poor families.

Mass kidnappings for ransom in the northwest and conflict between farmers and pastoralists in the central belt, traditionally the nation's bread basket, have also disrupted agriculture and squeezed food supplies.
 

'HUNGRIEST OF THE HUNGRY'

Roughly 40% of Nigeria's more than 200 million people live below the international poverty line of $2.15 per person per day, the World Bank estimates.

Already, 25 million people live in acute food and nutrition insecurity - putting their lives or livelihoods in immediate danger, according to a joint analysis by the government and U.N. agencies. That number is expected to rise to 33 million by next June-August.

"The food crisis in Nigeria is immense because what we are seeing is a crisis within a crisis within a crisis," said Trust Mlambo, head of programme for the northeast at the World Food Programme, in an interview with Reuters in Maiduguri.

With international donors focused on emergencies in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, Mlambo said there was not enough funding to fully meet Nigeria's growing need for food aid.

"We are really prioritising the hungriest of the hungry," he said.

In Borno, the Alau dam, upriver from Maiduguri, gave way on Sept. 9, four days after state officials had told the public it was secure. Local residents and engineers had been warning that it was under strain.

Hundreds of people were killed in the resulting flood, according to aid workers who did not wish to be identified for fear of offending the state government. A spokesperson for the state government did not respond to requests for comment.

Zainab Abubakar, a self-employed tailor in the city who lived in relative comfort with her husband and six children in a house with a refrigerator, was awoken at midnight by water rushing into her bedroom.

They ran for their lives while the flood destroyed their house and carried everything away, including her sewing machine. Now, they are sheltering at Gubio and collecting rice from aid agencies in a plastic bucket. "There is no alternative," she said.

In Banki, on Nigeria's border with Cameroon about 133 km (83 miles) southeast of Maiduguri, Mariam Hassan lost crops of maize, pepper and then okra in repeated flooding of her subsistence farm this year, leaving her with nothing to eat or sell.

"I beg the neighbours or relatives to give me food, not even for me but for my children, for us to survive," said Hassan, who has eight children. "The situation has turned me into a beggar." 

By Ope Adetayo, Reuters

At least 170 killed in weeks of flooding in Nigeria

At least 170 people have died and more than 200,000 others are displaced following weeks of flooding in Africa’s most populous country, a spokesperson for Nigeria’s disaster management agency told CNN Tuesday.

Northern Nigeria has been hit hardest by the floods, according to Manzo Ezekiel, who speaks for the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA). Other parts of the country however remain at risk, he added, amid torrential rains and the rising water levels of its two largest rivers — the Niger and the Benue.

“The pattern of flooding in Nigeria is such that it usually happens on the northern side before moving to the central and the southern parts… because the water flows downwards,” Ezekiel said. “In the coming days, the central parts will soon witness similar floods, and even downwards to the southern parts.”

Although parts of Nigeria are prone to floods during the rainy season, Ezekiel said this year’s flooding has been reported in areas where it had previously been rare.

“The situation is such that some places that were not previously known to be prone to floods are experiencing floods this time because of climate change,” he told CNN.

Environmentalists partly blame the country’s annual floods on poor drainage infrastructure.

More than 600 people were killed in floods across the country in 2022, the worst recorded in the West African nation in more than a decade.

Authorities attributed that flooding to above-average rainfall and the overflowing of the Lagdo dam in Cameroon.

Last week, the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) warned that flood waters from neighboring Niger and Mali were “expected to move gradually into Nigeria” while urging states located along the River Niger to be on alert.

The country’s meteorological agency NIMET has also warned of the risk of flash floodsacross the country.

The recent flooding has injured nearly 2,000 people and destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of farmland, according to the latest data from the disaster management agency shared with CNN. 

By Nimi Princewill, CNN

Floods in Nigeria kill at least 49, displace thousands

At least 49 people have been killed and thousands displaced in Nigeria after heavy rains caused flooding in the northeast of the country, the National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA), said on Monday.

Three states in the northeast, Jigawa, Adamawa and Taraba, have been hit hard by floods, with 41,344 people displaced, said NEMA spokesperson Manzo Ezekiel.

In 2022, Nigeria experienced its worst flood in more than a decade which killed more than 600 people, displaced around 1.4 million and destroyed 440,000 hectares of farmland.

"We are just entering into the peak of the season, particularly in the northern part of the country and the situation is very dire," Ezekiel told Reuters.

The floods have also destroyed farmlands affecting around 693 hectares of agricultural land. Nigeria is battling double-digit inflation which has been stoked by high food prices.

Heavy rains have added to problems in the farming sector where farmers are deserting their farms in the northeast due to repeated attacks by militants.

The government in this year's flood outlook said 31 of the country's 36 states were at risk of experiencing "high flood".

"We also have information about the high tide in the upper countries of the River Niger before Nigeria. All of these are flowing towards Nigeria. We are beginning to see a manifestation of our predictions," Ezekiel said.

By Ope Adetayo, Reuters 

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People in Nigeria are still struggling to find shelter and food, weeks after devastating floods. Thousands of homes were destroyed along river banks, and more than 6,000 people killed. Al Jazeera's @AhmedIdris reports from Obogoro in southern Nigeria.

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$2 bln extra budget for flood damage approved by Buhari

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari has approved an 819.5 billion naira ($2 billion) supplementary budget for 2022 to help deal with the impact of recent flooding, after the widespread destruction of farmland, the Senate President said on Wednesday.

Severe flooding this year has destroyed farmland, roads and dams, raising food security concerns as high food prices add to concern over double-digit inflation.

Nigeria is also battling with insurgents in the northeast and crude oil theft in its oil-producing regions in the south which has slashed oil output and government revenues.

"The year 2022 has witnessed most flood incidents in recent history, which has caused massive destruction of farm lands at the point already close to harvest season," Buhari said in a letter read by the Senate President to lawmakers.

"This may compound the situation of hostility and aggression in the country," he said.

Nigeria is also trying to stabilise its ailing currency, curb surging inflation and boost economic growth.

Buhari said the new spending will be financed through domestic borrowing, which will raise the deficit for 2022 to 4.43% of GDP.

The government expects the deficit to widen to 4.78% in 2023 as spending rises in an election year in which Buhari will not stand for re-election to due term limits.

Economists warn that the Nigerian government is spending more money on debt repayments than on education and health, but Buhari has said his government had no choice but to borrow its way out of two recessions in the past seven years.

Buhari has approved a 20.51 trillion naira ($45 billion) budget for 2023, up 18.4% from this year.

Nigerian lawmakers expect to pass the 2023 budget on Thursday, the speaker of the lower house of parliament told reporters late on Tuesday after a meeting with the president.

By Camillus Eboh, Reuters

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Displaced by devastating floods, Nigerians are forced to use floodwater despite cholera risk

Nigeria’s southern Bayelsa state is officially nicknamed the ‘glory of all lands.’ But much of it is now a river that has driven entire communities away from their homes.

Desperate to survive, many locals fleeing raging floods which have wrecked their homes and livelihoods are also forced to depend on floodwater for sustenance.

For displaced inhabitants of northern Bayelsa’s Odi town, who have found new homes in roadside shacks and tent shelters with no access to running water, stagnant floodwaters are the only available alternatives for drinking, cooking and bathing.

As she rinses her uncooked fish in dirty floodwater next to her neighbor doing his laundry, local trader Chigozie Uzo shares her fears of catching a waterborne disease.

“I’ve heard of cholera,” she told CNN, “but I don’t have a choice than to use this water.”

Meters away from Uzo, a young girl aged no more than five years old squats to urinate in the same floodwater she had rinsed her pot and plates in.

Humanitarian agencies fear the floods will contribute to a health disaster and Nigeria has already seen a rise in cholera infections as floods ravage many parts of the country.

According to UNICEF, “more than 2.5 million people in Nigeria are in need of humanitarian assistance – 60 per cent of which are children – and are at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition due to the most severe flooding in the past decade.”

A rise in cholera infections could be devastating for the country as the World Health Organization warns of a “strained global supply of cholera vaccines.”

Bayelsa and 30 other Nigerian states have reported thousands of suspected cholera cases, the country’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC) said in a recent report.

Bayelsa is among 33 of 36 Nigerian states grappling with the devastation of the country’s worst flooding in a decade. More than 600 lives have been lost in floods across the West African country, its government says, and almost 1.5 million people have been displaced, according to the country’s humanitarian ministry.

Aniso Handy, 56, has remained in his house in Odi, which has been overrun by water.

“I still live here,” he told CNN as he paddled his canoe into his flooded living room before making his way to a dry room upstairs.

“My family doesn’t stay here because of the flood and for their safety … but I know how to swim,” he said.

For some in the community, such as 27-year-old Igbomiye Zibokere, this is not the first time they have experienced the devastating effects of flooding.

During the last major flooding in 2012, her sick mother drowned in her room when water engulfed their home, she told CNN.

“My mum was ill when the floods came in 2012. The water level was high and my sister and I couldn’t carry her. All we could do was cry as she drowned in her room,” Zibokere said.

Zibokere, who is a petty trader, said she returned from the bush near her home in early October to find it taken over by water. The water level rose to her neck and they were forced to leave the house.

She and her young children are now homeless and living rough in a makeshift tent by the roadside.

“We are in a canopy. If it rains, the canopy would be blown away by the wind and we’ll be beaten by the rain. I’m suffering now. No food to eat or water to drink,” the mother-of-five said.
 

Displacing the living and the dead

In Bayelsa’s capital Yenagoa, located 28 kilometers (17 miles) from Odi, floods have displaced not just the living but also the dead.

In Yenagoa’s Azikoro village, residents said bodies have been seen floating in floodwaters around a local cemetery.

Adjusting to life wading through the stench of the stagnant water isn’t the only worry for residents of Azikoro as the cost-of-living skyrockets in Bayelsa due to the floods.

With major highways underwater, Bayelsa has been cut off from the rest of the country. Boats have become the only way to get around much of its environment.

To get to Bayelsa, travelers pay around 2,000 Naira (less than $5) to get on a packed tipper truck to cross flooded roads.

Those unable to afford the fee can be seen wading through the water carrying what little possessions they can.

Nigeria’s current flooding has been attributed to above-average rainfall and an overflowing dam in neighboring Cameroon. But the situation has also been exacerbated by poor drainage infrastructure, environmentalists have said.

With a warmer climate causing more intense rainfall, authorities also blame climate change for the floods. In the meantime, the country aims to tackle one of the major causes of its flood problems by holding bilateral talks with Cameroon on the periodic opening of its dam, Nigeria’s humanitarian ministry said.

“We must initiate a bilateral discussion with authorities in Cameroon next month (November 2022) on the periodic opening of the Lagdo dam,” a statement by the ministry said last week.

Complaints leveled at authorities

But weeks since the flooding began, Nigeria’s government has yet to declare the flood a national emergency.

Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, told local media last week: “It’s certainly an emergency situation but it all depends on what you mean by the declaring state of emergency. We have not reached a situation in my view where the relevant emergency management authorities have not been able to deal with this situation.”

Handy isn’t pleased with the government’s response.

“Nigerians are used to managing. If not, we would have all died,” he said. “Nigerians care for themselves, we’re more like infants that have no father or mother.”

Authorities in Bayelsa say they are racing to provide relief items for the thousands displaced.

According to the local government, around 20,000 people now live in displacement camps, where they are provided “two meals daily” along with “medical services, potable water and other emergency aids.”

But for Zibokere, government efforts are rarely felt in her community.

“When relief items are sent to the community by the government, individuals handling them distribute most of it to their relatives. The rest of us are left in hunger,” she said.

Bayelsa government spokesperson Daniel Alabrah said the government was aware of these complaints.

“We hear some of those complaints but we cannot verify them because while some claim not to have gotten the relief materials, others say they got it,” Alabrah told CNN. “These reports help us to monitor the process to see that relief materials get to the persons they are intended for,” he added.

With the rains still coming and more expected through November, more intense flooding is imminent, the Nigerian government warns.

By Nimi Princewill and Larry Madowo

CNN 

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Nigeria’s Buhari orders formulation of action plan to prevent flood disasters

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has directed relevant government agencies to develop an action plan for the prevention of flood disasters in the West African country.

According to the president’s spokesperson, Garba Shehu, Buhari directed the Minister of Water Resources to lead and coordinate with the Ministries of Environment and Transportation as well as State Governments to develop a comprehensive plan of action for preventing flood disasters in Nigeria.

Nigeria has been hit by perennial floods that caused the loss of hundreds of lives and massive destruction of property.

Currently, more than 2.5 million people in the country are in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations.

Flooding has affected 34 out of the 36 states in the country this year, killing more than 600 people and displacing 1.3 million people.

The UN says the country has recorded a rise in cases of diarrhoea and water-borne diseases, respiratory infection, and skin diseases.

Shehu noted that President Buhari is regularly receiving updates on the flooding situation and is committed to addressing the challenges caused by the disaster in the country.

By Jerry Omondi

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In Nigeria’s oil-rich Bayelsa state, nearly one and a half million people have been affected by severe flooding. The government is promising emergency supplies to deal with severe shortages of food and fuel. Ahmed Idris reports from Yenagoa.

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Nigeria's flooding spreads to the Delta, upending lives and livelihoods

People wade through fast-flowing water, holding one another to avoid being swept away, balancing suitcases, clothing and food on their heads.

The torrent was, until recently, the East-West Road in Nigeria's Rivers state, the gateway to the nation's oil and gas.

Now parts of Rivers, along with large swathes of 32 other states, are inundated by the worst flooding in 12 years.

"We cannot access Ahoada West anymore," local government chairman Hope Ikiriko said of the area he represents. He said 30 boats were helping to move people to camps built to accommodate the area's 150,000 displaced.

"We are going to rescue people who hitherto never wanted to quit," he added.

Nigerian authorities said Rivers, Anambra, Delta, Cross River and Bayelsa states remain at risk of flooding until the end of November.

The flooding has killed more than 600 people, displaced around 1.4 million and damaged or destroyed 440,000 hectares of farmland. Health officials warn it could worsen an ongoing cholera outbreak, and even natural gas exports are at risk.

Authorities blame heavy rains and a water release from the Lagdo dam in Cameroon. Experts say global warming, and poor planning, worsened the disaster.

"Climate change is playing a big role in this," said Hiba Baroud, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Vanderbilt University. "But the other component is...the vulnerability of the infrastructure. This is how we end up in a disaster like this one."

The 2021 Notre Dame Global Adaptation Index ranked Nigeria among the bottom 20 nations in its readiness to adapt to climate change.

Baroud said a Nigerian dam meant to backstop Cameroon's Lagdo was planned, but never completed. A lack of zoning allows houses in flood zones and poor irrigation places farmers at the edge of rivers that can inundate their fields.

"It's going to have cascading effects on diseases, on food security and so on," Baroud said.

By Angela Ukomadu

Reuters

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Nigeria LNG declares force majeure as flooding disrupts gas supply

Nigeria LNG has declared force majeure because of widespread flooding that has disrupted supply, a spokesman for the company said on Monday.

The declaration could worsen Nigeria's cash crunch and will curtail global gas supply as Europe and others struggle to replace Russian exports due to the invasion of Ukraine in February.

NLNG said all of its upstream gas suppliers had declared force majeure, forcing it to make the declaration as well.

"The notice by the gas suppliers was a result of high floodwater levels in their operational areas, leading to a shut-in of gas production which has caused significant disruption of gas supply to NLNG," spokesperson Andy Odeh said.

Odeh said NLNG was determining the extent of the disruption and would try to mitigate the impact of the force majeure.

Flooding in Nigeria has killed more than 600 people, displaced 1.4 million and destroyed roads and farmland. Officials have warned that the flooding, caused by unusually heavy rains and the release of water from a dam in Cameroon, could continue into November.

NLNG's supply had already been limited due to prolific oil theft that has slashed output from what is typically Africa's largest exporter. NLNG had exported roughly 18 cargoes in September, according to Refinitiv data.

Nigeria relies on fossil fuel exports for 90% of its foreign exchange and roughly half its budget. Crude oil exports fell below 1 million barrels per day (bpd) on average in August, the lowest level since the 1980s, due to theft that has exceeded 80% on certain pipelines.

Crushing fuel subsidy costs have also kept Africa's most populous nation from benefiting from this year's surge in oil prices. 

By Libby George

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Aid workers in Nigeria are struggling to reach hundreds of thousands of people displaced by floods. Floodwaters have hit the country’s oil-producing region in the south, after devastating northern, central and eastern parts of the country. Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports from Atani, one of the worst-hit areas in southern Nigeria.

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Severe flooding in Nigeria is making people increasingly desperate. Hundreds of thousands of people in several communities are out of reach, and many families are waiting for news of their loved ones. Al Jazeera's Ahmed Idris reports from Otuocha, Nigeria.

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Flooding in Nigeria’s Anambra state this year has displaced nearly 600,000 people. An additional 500 people have died. Nigeria's national emergency management agency says increased rainfall and the release of excess water from a dam in neighboring Cameroon have contributed to flooding in Nigeria.

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Nigeria is battling some of its worst floods in a decade. Heavy rains have affected the south for weeks. More than 300 people have died and many houses have been destroyed by flood, causing many to ask whether the flood disaster is natural or manmade. Al Jazeera’s Stefanie Dekker reports.

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Nigeria Flooding Leaves More Than 500 Dead, 1.4 Million Displaced

Nigerian officials say at least 500 people have been killed and 1.4 million displaced in the worst flooding in a decade. Officials say floods have affected nearly all of Nigeria's states and 90,000 homes have been partially or completely destroyed.

The permanent secretary of Nigeria's ministry of humanitarian affairs and disaster management, Nasir Sani-Gwarzo, announced the latest figures during a media briefing Tuesday in Abuja.

He said more than 1,500 people were injured and that the disaster had an impact on farmland across all but five of Nigeria's 36 states.

It is the worst flooding to be recorded in the West African nation since 2012. Authorities say heavier than normal rainfall and the release of water from a dam in Cameroon are to blame and have promised to help communities cope with the impact.

Isah Garba, who heads a community of farmers and fishers in Agabroko, in Central Kogi State, said the floods wreaked havoc on his people. He said his village was completely submerged, destroying farms of rice, corn, and even animals. He added that about 20 people died, mostly kids.

Thousands of people from Garba's area and neighboring villages are taking refuge on dry land several kilometers away from their homes. But there's limited access to basic amenities there, and the government's aid has yet to reach them.

Sani-Gwarzo said authorities have approved emergency action to mitigate the impact of the flood nationwide. He said a national emergency response plan will take into account other communities not directly hit by flooding.

Thirty-eight-year-old Fatima Adamu, who lost her livestock, is among those who say they need help. She said she lost 15 goats, and those that remain are falling sick.

The National Emergency Management Agency says that so far, it has reached some 300,000 people.

Meanwhile, Nigerian weather forecasters have warned that more flooding could be in store.

By Timothy Obiezu

VOA

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Death toll in Nigeria boat capsize tragedy rises to 76

Death toll in Nigeria boat capsize tragedy rises to 76

The death toll from a boat accident in Nigeria's southeastern state of Anambra has risen to 76, the president said on Sunday.

The vessel capsized on Friday amid heavy flooding in the Ogbaru area of Anambra, according to officials on Saturday, when they said at least 10 people had died and 60 were missing.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Sunday, Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari said that emergency authorities had confirmed the higher death toll.

Authorities are working to rescue or recover any missing passengers, said Buhari, adding that he had directed the relevant agencies to check safety protocols to prevent future accidents.

The head of Anambra State Emergency Management Agency said that 15 people had been rescued as of Saturday night.

Anambra is among 29 of Nigeria's 36 states to have experienced heavy flooding this year. The waters have washed away homes, crops and roads and affected at least half a million people.

A local resident, Afam Ogene, told Reuters that because flooding had destroyed the major road linking eight communities to the rest of the area, some residents had to travel by boat.

Of the vessel that capsized, he said it was locally made and had the capacity to carry more than 100 people. He added that the boat's engine had failed and it was overpowered by waves shortly after it launched.

By Libby George

Reuters

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In Nigeria's food basket state, floods wash away homes, crops and hope

Victoria Okonkwo sits in a canoe as neighbours paddle her away from her house in Nigeria's food basket, Benue state, which is now under water – along with more than 100,000 hectares (247,100 acres) of farmland.

"It was last week that it started, so I left thinking that the water will not be this much," Okonkwo, 45, told Reuters. "Now I am displaced with my children."

Okonkwo is among at least half a million Nigerians affected by flooding in 29 of Nigeria's 36 states this year. Farmers say the rising waters will push food bills higher in a nation where millions have fallen into food poverty in the past two years.

Farming was constrained by flooding and food shortages and COVID-19 restrictions in 2020. Prices shot higher due to this year's war in Ukraine and nationwide insecurity that has pushed thousands of farmers off their land.

"This is a catastrophe indeed," said Dimieari Von Kemedi, chief executive of Alluvial Agriculture, a farm collective. "All of these wrong things are happening at the same time."

Farmer Tersoo Deei, 39, said 2 hectares (5 acres) of her rice and nearly all her soybeans in Benue were underwater. What she had harvested she has to sell now, before it has dried, because her house washed away.

"I do not have any option but to sell my rice paddy because there is nowhere to keep it," the mother of four told Reuters.

Nigeria-based commodities exchange AFEX estimates flooding and other factors will cut maize output by 12% year on year, and rice by 21%. That is a serious problem for a nation where inflation hit a 17-year high in August, led by food inflation at 23.12%.

"What we are seeing currently is the worst case... at least in the last decade," David Ibidapo, AFEX's head of market data and research, said of the flooding. "This is a very big challenge to food security."

By Abraham Achirga and Libby George

Reuters

Nigeria battling floods ‘beyond control’ as warning given of dams overflowing

Nigeria is battling its worst floods in a decade with more than 300 people killed in 2022 including at least 20 this week, as authorities said the situation is “beyond our control.”

The floods in 27 of Nigeria’s 36 states and capital city have affected half a million people, including 100,000 displaced and more than 500 injured, Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency said.

The disaster has also destroyed thousands of hectares of farmland, worsening fears of a disruption of food supply in Africa’s most populous country.

Since 2012, “this [the flood-related deaths] is the highest we ever had,” said Manzo Ezekiel, a spokesperson for the disaster management agency.

Nigeria sees flooding every year, often as a result of non-implementation of environmental guidelines and inadequate infrastructure. Authorities are blaming the floods this year on water overflowing from local rivers, unusual rainfalls and the release of excess water from Lagdo dam in neighbouring Cameroon’s northern region.

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency predicted more floods in 2022 than last year due to “excessive rainfalls and contributions from external flows” such as the dam in Cameroon.

On Monday, Nigeria’s disaster management agency alerted more than a dozen states of “serious consequences” in the coming weeks as two of the country’s dams started to overflow.

“I want to advise all the governments of the frontline states to move away communities at risk of inundation, identify safe higher grounds for evacuation of persons and prepare adequate stockpiles of food and non-food items,” said the head of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency, Mustapha Habib Ahmed.

In the north-west Jigawa state, floods killed more than 20 people in the last week, Yusuf Sani Babura, head of the Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency, told the AP. The state has recorded 91 deaths from flooding this year – more than any state in the country.

“We are facing devastating floods beyond our control,” said Babura. “We have tried our best and we couldn’t stop it.”

The floods have also destroyed crops, mostly in Nigeria’s northern region, which produces much of what the country eats, raising concerns that they could further affect food supplies already disrupted by armed conflict in the country’s north-west and central regions.


In the Benue state, Aondongu Kwagh-bee said he visited his rice farm recently and discovered that a heavy downpour had “wiped away everything.”

“Right now, there is nothing there. Just sand filled up and the rice has been washed away,” the 30-year-old said.

Akintunde Babatunde, an Abuja-based climate analyst, said the main cause of Nigeria’s annual flooding problem was the poor infrastructure of roads, drainage and waste disposal.

“Unusual rainfall is evidence of the changing climate,” he said.

AP