A total of 68 persons lost their lives while 129,000 others were displaced in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, this year, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has said.
The revelations were contained in a speech delivered by the agency’s Director-General, Muhammadu Muhammed, at the 2020 flood after-action review technical meeting with stakeholders on Monday in Abuja.
Muhammed stated that 320 local government areas in the country were also affected by floods, explaining that the floods destroyed houses and washed away farmlands across the country thus having a negative impact on food security.
According to the NEMA boss, “The devastating impact of 2020 flooding killed 68 people, affected 35 States including FCT, 320 LGAs and over 129,000 people, it led to the loss of lives, if destroyed houses and washed away farmlands across the Country thereby having a negative impact on food security.”
“Before the 2020 flooding occurred, the whole world was experiencing the COVID-19 Pandemic with lockdown and restriction protocol to contain the spread of the virus.
“After the release of the Seasonal Rainfall Prediction by NiMet and the Annual Flood Outlook by, Nigeria Hydrological Agency (NIHSA), our worst fear was confirmed with the devastating flood disaster within the Pandemic,” the NEMA boss said.
He said the technical meeting was planned to review various activities carried out in respect of 2020 flood preparedness, mitigation, and response.
The meeting, he explained, would capture lessons learnt and make recommendations that can improve the ability of institutions to coordinate actions that will guide future actions on flooding in Nigeria.
