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Floods Kill 21 Persons, Render Hundreds Homeless in Jigawa

On 13 June 2017, children play in a flooded street caused by recent rains in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state in north-east Nigeria. Each year, the countries around Lake Chad (Niger, Nigeria, Chad and Cameroon) suffer from severe flooding as part of the seasonal rains in the region in June 2017. Many children are at increased risk of waterborne disease as the rainy season begins in crisis-affected areas around Lake Chad. The flooding and muddy roads are expected to severely limit humanitarian access to remote areas for several weeks. This reduced access comes at a time when the needs of the population are sharply increasing with ongoing displacement and overcrowding in IDP camps. To exacerbate the risk brought by unstable weather, security concerns are significantly heightened during the month of Ramadan. There has been a sharp escalation in violence in recent weeks, including a deadly attack on Borno state capital. Security concerns are further complicating plans to preposition humanitarian supplies before the rains as the supplies could become a valuable target. UNICEF warns that there is an increased risk for children of cholera, diarrhoea and malaria. UNICEF is particularly concerned for children living in cholera “hotspots” for both returnees as well as new arrivals in flood prone areas, as they are the most vulnerable and their needs must be immediately addressed.

Twenty one people have died while many have fled their homes in 18 local government areas of Jigawa State following the worst flooding ever experienced in the state, the state government said on Tuesday

The state governor, Badaru, disclosed to journalists in his office in Dutse yesterday that among the 21 persons killed by the flood, four of them drowned into a river.

Badaru said the flood had also displaced many people in most of the affected communities.

He said “Many of the victims lost their lives as a result of building collapse caused by the heavy rainfall in the areas, and others washed away by over flooded rivers.”

Badaru also consoled the families of those affected, and assured them that the government would provide relief items to the displaced persons.

The governor called on the federal government to assist the state so as to alleviate the suffering of the affected communities.

According to him, an assessment team has been sent to all the affected communities with a view to providing government support to them.

Badaru said many families have been displaced, while a hundred thousand hectares of farmlands were submerged and all produce lost to the flood.

It was learnt that the flood disaster affected 24 of the 27 local government areas in the state, in which the situation was worsened in 18 local government areas.

It was also observed that the flood washed away hundreds of farm lands in the rural areas, and Jigawa is one of the agrarian states that local people relied only on rainy season for farming.

More than 50,000 houses and farmlands were destroyed following the flood which ravaged some parts of the state last week.

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