Flood Displaces 3,900 Persons In Jigawa In One Month.

By Mohammed Abubakar Dutse

With the 2024 rainy season yet to reach its peak, Jigawa state has experienced the displacement of about 3900 persons across 12 out of the 27 local government areas of the state.

The Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency, (JSEMA), which disclosed the figure, also declared that no fewer than 16 persons have died in flooding incidents recorded in the affected ocal government areas.

The Executive Secretary of the Agency, Dr. Haruna Mairiga, while providing an update on the recent upsurge of flooding told reporters in Dutse on Wednesday, that besides the loss of lives, 3,936 households have been affected.

In addition, 3, 834 persons have been displaced, while 2, 744 hectares of farmlands have so far been destroyed, posing serious challenges to the state food security initiatives.

Jigawa experienced its worst in history in 2022, where thousands of lives and properties worth millions of naira, including several hundreds of hectares of farmlands submerged and millions of people were displaced.

According to this year’s weather forecast by the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, ( Nimet), Jigawa state is listed among the state that will experience serious flooding in 2024.

Mairiga, however, commended the state governor, Umar Namadi-led administration for so far providing the needed leadership towards effectively tackling the incessant yearly floodings which ravage the state.

The SEMA boss expressed the fear about the possibility of the flooding getting beyond the prediction and expressed the need for more hands to be involved in nipping the occurence in the bud early enough to prevent the 2022 experience.

His words: “The alarming thing is that, this is happening, when the rainy season is halfway, when we’re yet to reach the peak of the rainy season. Only God knows in those areas, how it will be at the peak of the season.”

Mairiga however lauded the state governor, who, he said, is doing a lot to sustain the tempo of taming the floods before they get out of hand.

The state government had raised a flood assessment committee and inaugurated same almost a year ago, which came up with recommendations to reduce the impacts of flooding.

The government said it was working on the committee’s recommendations, including the dredging of nearby rivers and clearing grasses on the waterways that slow the flow of water.