DUTSE, Nigeria (The Informant247) – Flash floods triggered by heavy rains across Nigeria’s Northwestern Jigawa state have killed over 60 people and injured and displaced several others, officials said Friday.
“As of last week, 50 people have been confirmed dead. This week, six people were also confirmed dead; bringing the total to 56 who lost their lives in the flood disaster,” the Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Alhaji Yusuf Sani Babura told reporters in Dutse.
“I also heard that a local canoe capsised and four people died in the incident, though we are yet to receive an official report on the occurrence,” he said.
Announcing the new death toll, Babura said 16 internally displaced persons (IDP) camps had been established to take care of those displaced by the flood.
He said further that the agency had 11 IDPs camps in the state at the Hadejia area; two in Miga; two in Dutse and one in Birninkudu local government areas.
He furthered, “All that we are doing is on credit. The state government is yet to release any money. But we do not doubt that the government will settle it when we submit,” adding that the agency had made a proposal to assist the families of the victims of the deceased as a result of a flood, canoe capsised and collapsed buildings, but the governor is yet to approve it.
The season has lashed the state with particularly heavy rains and rescuers have struggled to evacuate people from flood-hit areas.