Maiduguri, Sep 21 (BNA): Floods in Nigeria have killed at least 300 people this year and the situation could be exacerbated by heavy rains and the effect of excess water from a dam in Cameroon that will affect 14 Nigerian states. agency said.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) held an emergency meeting on Monday to review the flood situation and response planning.
More than 100,000 people have been displaced by floods since the start of the rainy season and are now living in temporary shelters, Mustafa Habib Ahmed, director general of NEMA, said in a statement made available to Reuters on Tuesday.
Ahmed said that Cameroon opened flood gates at the Lagdo Dam last week and that the indirect effects accompanied by heavy rains will lead to floods in 14 states, including those in the oil-producing Niger Delta.
“I would advise all governments of frontline countries to keep out communities at risk of flooding, to establish higher safe grounds for evacuating people, and to pre-stock adequate stocks of food and non-food items, drinking water, hygiene, and safety,” Ahmed said.
Several parts of Nigeria are subject to monsoon floods with coastal nations such as Lagos at greater risk.
Heavy rains since the weekend have flooded roads and swept away a major bridge linking the state capital and some local government areas in the worst floods in years, authorities in the northeastern state of Yobe said on Tuesday.
Other states such as Adamawa and Borno experienced flooding due to higher-than-normal rainfall, which engulfed farms and increased the risk of food insecurity.
MI