7 Million Nigerians Displaced By Flood – NEMA

Director-General of the National Emergency
Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Sani Sidi,
has said at least seven million Nigerians were
displaced in various floods recorded
nationwide by the agency in 2012. Sidi disclosed this to the News Agency of
Nigeria (NAN) in Kirfi, Kirfi Local Government
Area of Bauchi State on Wednesday, while in
the area to inspect a relief camp established
by NEMA in anticipation of victims that might
be displaced by flood this year. Nine persons were confirmed dead and
property estimated at N356 million were lost
in a recent flood that ravaged some parts of
the state. “We recall what happened last year, the
unprecedented flood which led to the
displacement of 2.1 million people across the
country and it affected over seven million
people. It led to the death of over 363
persons,” he said. He said that 2.1 million persons out of the
figure were recorded at various camps set up
by the agency across the country to provide
temporary shelter for the Internally Displaced
Persons (IDPs). Sidi pledged to ensure that the ugly incident
was not allowed to repeat itself. He said that NIMET had since released this
year’s annual rainfall seasonal prediction
which indicated that Bauchi State would
experience flood akin to 2012. “We have carried out advocacy in all the states
and today we are matching our words with
action as we are witnessing one of the
established self grounds for IDPs,” the
director-general said. He therefore called on state governments to
match earlier warnings with action by
identifying self grounds for various
communities that might be affected by the
disaster. Sidi explained that the agency set up such
camps to shy away from the use of public
infrastructure such as schools, churches and
mosques used in the past. He said that the camps would be beefed up
with mobile colleges and schools for IDPs to
avoid disruption of school calendar as
experienced in the past while security would
equally be strengthened. The director-general warned communities still
living in flood prone areas to relocate to such
safer areas being established nationwide. He assured that food items and non-food
items would be provided in the camps to
ensure that IDPs did not lack such items.