The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has declared that 192 casualties have been recorded from 29 states across the nation as a result of the impact of severe flooding.
The rise of the fatalities recorded rose as a result of perpetual rainfall and the rising of River Niger and Benue respectively.
The 29 states ravaged by flooding so far include, Ebonyi, Ekiti, Enugu, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, the Federal Capital Territory, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna and Kano.
Others are Katsina, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ondo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara, and Oyo.
While speaking to journalists on Sunday September 1, 2024, the spokesperson, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ezekiel Manzo, said, “I got information from our Emergency Operation Centre that the death toll has increased to 192. The latest figure is as a result of flooding that happened in Plateau State.
“Plateau State has just been added to the number of the states affected because it is the last state in northern Nigeria that recorded flooding between Friday and yesterday (Saturday) morning. So, Plateau has joined the number of the states that have recorded flooding this year, previously, it was 28 states, but it’s now 29 states.”
Manzo further stated that one of the major reasons for the rise of casualties recorded across the country by the agency, is because some people underrated the warnings, and there are likely going to be a possibility of the flooding exceeding predictions given at the moment.
“Some people underrated the information that was given to them, because we carried out a lot of sensitisation. So, if information has been given over and over, and this thing is still happening, it means some people underrated the information’’.
The NEMA boss also revealed that some states that were not known for flooding because of their region are currently also experiencing the sad ordeal from the hands of nature because of consistent rainfall.
He also said that the agency has been engaging in continuous sensitization programmes targeted towards enlightening the public about the situation.
In his statement, he said : “Secondly, there’s also the possibility that the flooding exceeded what was envisaged. Thirdly, sometime ago, we had flooding in locations that were not previously known to be prone to flooding. There is a high amount of rainfall that we have recorded so far, with high impact that has been recorded,” he stated.
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