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Nigeria: Floods - Emergency Plan of Action (EPoA) DREF n° MDRNG030

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Nigeria
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IFRC
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A. Situation Analysis

Description of the disaster

On 6 October 2020, flood levels at the hydrological stations monitored in Niamey (Niger Republic) and Malan Ville (Benin Republic) reached the red alert zone due to the intensity of the torrential rainfall and caused flooding in Jigawa, Kebbi, Kwara, Sokoto, and Zamfara state (amongst other states) affecting 91,254 people or 15,209 households. The flood incident was caused by the intensity of the rainfalls at the peak of the flood season and the release of dams located in neighbouring Niger, Cameroon and Benin, which resulted in the Benue and Niger rivers overflowing and affecting communities living along their banks and in surrounding areas. Table 1 illustrates the flood impacts of the worst flood affected states.

The situation in Kebbi – the country's biggest rice-producing state – is especially dire, as vast farmlands are completely submerged due to the most recent rains. Meanwhile in Jigawa state, a total of 18 out of 27 Local Government Areas (LGA)s have been affected, with Gwaram, Birnin Kudu, Kirikasamma, and Gumel as the worst hit. Wide swaths of farmlands have been washed away with a loss of crops amounting to billions of Naira. The State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), with the support from the Federal Government, is scaling efforts to assist flood victims by providing emergency needs. So far, the agency has distributed 30 canoes to inundated communities, as well as materials to build embankments to control the floods.

Kwara State is also concerning as more than 5,000 households have been affected. The government estimates damage worth N10bn have been incurred. At least three lives in Ilorin are believed to have been lost. Scores of houses also had their roofs blown off by the raging storm that accompanied the heavy rains in the Ilorin metropolis while electricity poles were destroyed in Taiwo and Odota areas of the state capital. Telecommunication masts and building walls were also damaged in Olonkonla, Bobonkiri, Egba-Akota, Aberi, Akuji and Idiope, all in Ita-Ogunbo area, Alanamu Ward in Ilorin West Local Government Area, the worst hit.

Since September to date, torrential rainfall, river floods and flash floods have cumulatively impacted 192,594 people across Nigeria. Some 826 injuries and 155 fatalities have so far been recorded and 24,134 people are reported to be displaced. Most of the those affected are children. Wide swaths of farmlands have also been washed away with a loss of crops amounting to billions of naira. These floods have so far impacted 22 states in the country’s six geo-political zones: North West (4 state), North Central (4 states), North East (4 state), South East (4 states), South-South (3 states) and South West (3 state). This earlier flooding had weakened Nigeria’s water supply and road infrastructure, killing dozens and leading to disease outbreaks.

A government team began the delivery of food palliatives to the Kwara North Senatorial District, beginning with Jebba town in Moro Local Government Area and Lafiagi in Edu Local Government Area. Over 15,000 households across 357 communities of the state are estimated to have been affected by the ugly incidents that also destroyed farmlands and human dwellings worth billions of naira. In the wake of the floods, over 100,000 hectares of rice, maize and millet farms in Kpata-Gbaradogi, fishing and agrarian settlement in Pategi LGA were destroyed. About 100 residential buildings were also submerged while 1,500 people were rendered homeless.

The Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, warned flood-prone states to prepare for flood emergency, rescue and rehabilitation. According to the Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) made public by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), the rainy season is expected to continue until December 28th in the southern parts of the country. The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), predicted that at least 102 LGAs in 28 states fall within the highly probable flood risk areas, while parts of 275 LGAs in the 36 states of the Federation, including FCT, fall within the moderately probable flood risks areas.