More than 600 people have died since June in Nigeria’s deadliest floods of a decade caused by exceptional rains, forcing 1.3 million people to flee their homes, according to a new report from the authorities. Since the start of the rainy season, many parts of Africa’s most populous country have been ravaged by floods, raising fears of worsening food insecurity and inflation.
“Unfortunately, more than 603 lives were lost” – 100 more deaths in a week – and 2,400 other people were injured in the floods, the Nigerian Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs said on Twitter on Sunday October 16. The death toll has increased dramatically “astronomical” as many states in Nigeria have not prepared for such heavy rains, the ministry continued.
The authorities’ previous toll published last week reported 500 dead. More than 82,000 homes and 110,000 hectares of farmland were also completely destroyed, the ministry added.
The rainy season usually starts in June, but floods have been particularly deadly since August, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema). Last week, 76 people died in a boat accident in the state of Anambra (southeast), when the flood of the Niger River caused its sinking.
High risk of starvation
Heavy rains are again expected in Nigeria in the coming weeks, raising fears of more damage. Humanitarian Affairs Minister Sadiya Umar Farouq has called for the evacuation of people living along rivers, especially in Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta and Rivers states, which face a high risk of rising floods. waters.
In 2012, particularly deadly floods left 363 dead and 2.1 million displaced. Sub-Saharan Africa is particularly affected by climate change and many of its economies are grappling with the repercussions of the war between Russia and Ukraine.
In Nigeria, a country of some 215 million people, rice farmers have warned that devastating floods this year could drive up prices, as rice imports are banned to boost local production. According to a joint report published in September by the World Food Program (WFP) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Nigeria is already among the six countries in the world facing high levels of catastrophic starvation.
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