Continuous heavy rainfall has triggered severe flooding across Nigeria, leading to widespread devastation and displacement in states such as Bauchi, Sokoto, and others.
Recently, the Executive Council in Bauchi State alerted that 24 people have so far lost their lives and property worth over N22bn wrecked due to persistent floods in 16 local government areas of the state.
The council had on Monday, 09 September 2024 said an inter-ministerial committee has been constituted to assess the damages caused by the devastating natural disaster.
The commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Hajara Wanka who spoke with journalists after the council’s meeting disclosed that the ministry is still compiling its report.
She said “But from the report they have recorded, 24 lost their lives, 163 injured, 16 local Government areas affected, 60 culverts washed away, 12 major roads were cut off, 178 electric poles were destroyed, 11,183 livestock and 122,330 households were affected and,52,000 houses were destroyed.
“When such an incident happened, the victims were kept in primary schools and later they joined their relatives in the town they didn’t open any Internally Displaced Persons camp.”
Wanka further noted that the council has approved the release of funds to rehabilitate damaged structures, including culverts, access roads, schools, and public buildings.
The commissioner further emphasised that the committee’s formation followed a directive from the Federal Government to determine the magnitude of the disaster, which affected many states in the federation.
“The committee, chaired by the Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Aminu Hammayo, will comprise relevant commissioners as members, with the Secretary to the State Government, Ibrahim Kashim, monitoring its activities, “she stated.
Commissioner for Housing and Environment, Dallami Kawule, who also addressed Newsmen announced that he had authorised his ministry to crack down on structures built on waterways across the state.
He stated that cracking down the structures will help to prevent future flood disasters as assessments indicated that blockage of waterways exacerbated the problem.
In his remarks, the commissioner for Education, Jamila Ɗahiru said, “The Ministry of Education has secured approval for the renovation and remodelling of the state Education Resource Center, which will be merged with the newly commissioned Zainab Bulkachuwa ICT Center to form a world-class learning centre to boost education and Learning in the state.”
Nigeria experienced devastating floods from August 8 to August 13, 2024, which have impacted some states far more severely than in previous years, highlighting a growing crisis. The scale of destruction is unprecedented, worsening an already dire economic situation in the country.
