Fresh reports by the United Nations (UN) has raised some massive concerns over the issue of flooding in Nigeria this year.
It has been reported that at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York, spokesperson Stephane Dujarric had said the world body was following events.
Read Also: Floods: Panic As Corpses Float In Delta, Bayelsa Cemeteries
“We are gravely concerned that the flooding will worsen the already alarming food insecurity and malnutrition situation in Nigeria.”
Dujarric had also noted that at least 440,000 hectares of farmland have also been partially or totally damaged.
The UN added that “more than 19 million people across Nigeria are facing severe food insecurity.’’
The spokesperson said since July, the Nigeria government have managed to provide food, non-food items and clean drinking water to thousands of families and the UN said it was aiding the government with assessments and response in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe and other states, along with humanitarian partners.
The support include emergency shelter kits, local water drains, sandbags, and walling around shelters to mitigate the impacts of the flooding.
The Nigerian government had announced that over 600 people have died, and 1.3 million people displaced.
In another report, in the face of the devastating flood that has hit Nigeria, the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu asserted that declaring a state of emergency over the ugly development across the country was not yet necessary.
The Minister who appeared on Channels Television’s Politics Today, posited that emergency agencies are not yet overwhelmed hence his submission.
No fewer than 600 human beings have reportedly died and millions displaced due to flooding-related disasters this year with many parts of the country still submerged under water.
‘It is certainly an emergency situation,’ Mr Adamu said, when pressed on why the government had yet to declare a state of emergency. ‘But it depends on what you call a ‘state of emergency’.
Read Also: Real Reason Many States Are Flooded In Nigeria – FG
He went on to add; ‘We have not reached a situation, in my view, where the relevant emergency management authorities are not being able to deal with this situation. I’m not aware that has happened.
‘I’m sure if the situation was beyond our capacity, certainly a state of emergency, whatever that may encompass, would have been declared in the country.’
The Minister said the main cause of the flooding was unprecedented rainfall.