Floods killed 662 people, displaced over 2.4mn in Nigeria last yr

LAGOS [NIGERIA]: Nigeria's emergency management authorities have confirmed that 662 people were killed and more than 2.4 million others were displaced by floods in different parts of the country in 2022.

While revealing the figures, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, director general of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), noted that 3,174 people suffered injuries, while thousands of houses and hectares of farmland were destroyed, reports Xinhua news agency.

Ahmed described the devastating 2022 flood disasters as being "unprecedented in the history of Nigeria".

"Records indicate that 662 persons have lost their lives, 3,174 others have suffered injuries and 2,430,445 individuals have been displaced by the floods," he said, adding that the NEMA, in collaboration with state governments and other partners, is currently working toward the long-term recovery of impacted communities across the country.

Musa Zakari, the director in charge of human resource management at the NEMA, said rapid changes in climate have resulted in an increase in the frequency of natural disasters across the country.

Zakari said the training course is to equip NEMA officials with better knowledge of disaster management.