The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, visited Borno State following the recent flood disaster.
Atiku shared news of his arrival in Maiduguri through a post on his official X handle on Sunday.
“A short while ago, I arrived in Maiduguri for a sympathy visit to the people of Borno State over the recent catastrophic flooding,” he stated.
A short while ago, I arrived in Maiduguri for a sympathy visit to the people of Borno State over the recent catastrophic flooding. -AA pic.twitter.com/gK5xzNwpbf
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) September 15, 2024
One Million Displaced
Floodwaters have displaced over one million people in and around Maiduguri, the central hub for humanitarian efforts in the northeast, marking one of the most severe flood disasters in Africa’s most populous nation.
Thousands of homes were submerged by rapidly rising floodwaters after a dam burst following a weekend of heavy rainfall in northeastern Nigeria.
Barkindo Mohammed, Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), informed AFP that the number of displaced individuals could rise to one million.
Mohammed Sheriff, 60, faced tragedy when he woke in the middle of the night to find his home flooded.
Along with his two wives, they carried six of their children to safety, assuming the two eldest, aged 11 and 13, could withstand the current. Unfortunately, the two children remain missing.
“We haven’t seen them since and we fear the worst,” Sheriff told AFP.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said on Wednesday that at least 30 people have died in the floods — the worst in 30 years, according to the United Nations refugee agency in Nigeria.
Hunger and disease
NEMA’s director general Zubaida Umar said on X on Thursday she was relieved that the “flood level in Maiduguri is receding, and normalcy is beginning to return to the metropolis,” adding that rescue operations were ongoing in the city flooded up to 40 percent.
“Children and families are still trapped in their homes,” British charity Save The Children said in a statement on Friday.
“The immense damage to water and sanitation services is driving up the risk of cholera and other water- and vector-borne diseases,” the NGO said, pointing out that the city’s two main hospitals had also been flooded.
The World Food Programme (WFP) said the disaster would increase the risk of food insecurity, particularly in the vulnerable northeast.
According to Umar, at least 259 people have lost their lives to flooding in Nigeria since the start of the rainy season.