Monday, May 16, 2011

Half a million Nigerians flooded in 2010

The Tribune (Nigeria): No fewer than 500,000 Nigerians were displaced by floods in 2010, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said recently. A statement by the Agency's Head of Public Relations, Mr Yushau Shuaib in Abuja said its Director-General, Alhaji Mohammed Sani-Sidi, disclosed this at a conference on ``Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction'' in Geneva.
A copy of the statement was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

The statement said that many communities were affected, particularly in Sokoto,Jigawa, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Lagos, Ogun, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Niger and Kwara. It said that NEMA had already sent out early warning signals to some of the states to ensure that they sensitised their people about the potential risks in 2011 and how to avoid them.

The statement said that Mohammed urged the governments to build barriers along river banks and move people away from low-lying places by the rivers, as well as adopt strategic measures to control floods. It also said that he urged the states to adequately fund their respective emergency management agencies to boost their sensitisation programmes and provide immediate needs in their communities…

The River Benue looking south east from Jimeta/Yola in Nigeria

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