The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that 1,243,638 Nigerians were displaced by floods in 2024, with 1,237 lost lives, the Nigeria news agency (NAN) reported.
The general director of Nema, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, declared this in a participation of the interested parties in the National Campaign for Disaster Preparation and Response 2025, held in Owerri, on Tuesday.
Umar, represented by the head of the Association and Collaboration of Nema, Evan Niko, said that the floods, which affected a total of 5,264,097 people, also affected 1,439,296 cultivation lands and left 16,469 people injured.
Speaking on the subject: “Strengthen resilience, improve preparation and response,” Umar caught more attention to the bases to save lives and develop community resistance in Nigeria.
She said that Nema had developed risk implications related to the weather, preparation, mitigation and response actions to reduce the potential impacts of the floods of 2025, depending on the predictions of the Nigerian weather agency and the Nigeria hydrological services agency.
“We have embarked on various activities aimed at preventing and mitigating the expected impacts of the disaster in order to remember those interested in their responsibilities in flood disaster management.
“The current scale reduction exercise of the seasonal climatic prediction of 2025 is even more addressed to the main interested in emergency management on predictions and what is expected of them, to mitigate the expected impacts of the disaster,” he said.
Speaking, a principal help officer with Nema, Mr. Michael Ajide, described IMO as “one of the high-risk states of floods”, with LGA Oguta and Ohaji-EGbema that exceed the lists.
He urged governments of all levels to invest in drainage and dam infrastructure to encourage planning resistant to floods in river areas.
Also speaking, the head of Operations of Nema for Abia and IMO, Mr. Nnamdi IGWE, asked for remotetection for the flood mapping, the rehabilitation of local drains and the strengthening of community link desks to relieve communication and avoid disasters.
Ekene Ahaneku, a medical care officer of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, requested more collaborations with state emergency management agencies to decentralize help efforts and achieve optimal results.
However, the vice president, the Council of the traditional Rulers of the IMO, Eze Fred Nwachukwu, expressed his willingness to implement strategies effectively for better results of governance at the base level.
Read also: 2024 The flood killed 321, affected 1,374 million people – Nema