WFP warns that some 800,000 people have been affected by floods in Nigeria until September

September 14 (EUROPA PRESS) –

The World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that some 800,000 people in 29 states in Nigeria have been affected by floods by September 2024, which “represents an additional burden” in a region that “has been suffering from conflict for a decade.”

The UN agency has regretted that “hundreds of thousands of people need help due to floods that have destroyed their homes” following the latest floods in Maiduguri, capital of Borno state (northeast), and “which add to the already existing crises.”

“Many, many people – I’m talking about more than 200,000 to 300,000 displaced people – are crowded into several internally displaced persons camps and also on the streets,” said Emmanuel Bigenimana, head of the WFP office in Maidugur, who described the situation in the region as “heartbreaking.”

Bigenimana highlighted the plight of Borno State, which was not only “one of the areas worst affected by the Boko Haram insurgency” but has also “more recently (seen) food inflation, food prices have skyrocketed, really affecting millions of people facing food insecurity.”

As of March this year, some 32 million people in the country were already facing acute famine, according to WFP figures, which has calculated that it will need 147.9 million dollars (about 134 million euros) “to support food-insecure people in northeastern Nigeria over the next six months.”

“Recovery will take a long time. We need more resources to save lives and to join forces to respond to crises, and also to think about recovery and longer-term solutions,” Bigenimana said.

The statement comes after the death toll from the floods in Maiduguri over the past few days – following the collapse of a dam due to heavy rains – rose to 37 on Friday, in addition to the nearly 60 injured and more than 414,000 victims confirmed by the National Emergency Management Agency.

The dam burst days after several residents in the area warned that it was at its maximum capacity due to heavy rains in the area. The governor of Borno, Babagana Zulum, has acknowledged that the situation is “very devastating” and has promised to provide aid to those affected.