Anxiety as windstorm displaces hundreds, kills four in Yobe

No fewer than four people have been killed and 92 injured in Yobe state following weeks of violent windstorms and heavy rains that have wreaked havoc on communities since May 9.

The disaster, which affected 1,637 mud houses across seven local government areas (LGAs), also displaced 368 people and left over 5,000 residents struggling to rebuild their lives, according to Muhammad Goje, executive secretary of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA).

Speaking in Damaturu on Thursday, Goje said the windstorm affected 48 communities in Bursari, Damaturu, Fika, Fune, Gulani, Potiskum, and Tarmuwa, with Fika LGA suffering the most destruction.

He noted that 1,264 households and 5,022 individuals were directly affected. The state government, in collaboration with Action Against Hunger (ACF) and with support from the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO), has begun delivering emergency relief.

So far, 566 households in Fika and Potiskum have received life-saving items, prioritised based on a joint assessment by YOSEMA and ACF that identified the most vulnerable families.

Mohammed Kingimi, ACF’s Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project manager, said the organisation is also preparing to roll out Food Security and Livelihood (FSL) support to aid long-term recovery.

“ACF is also preparing to roll out Food Security and Livelihood (FSL) support for the same 566 households to enhance their recovery,” he said.

Climate-induced disasters like windstorms are becoming more frequent and severe in northern Nigeria, posing greater risks to communities living in fragile shelters and lacking basic infrastructure.

Yobe, part of Nigeria’s arid northeast, is highly susceptible to extreme weather events worsened by deforestation, desert encroachment, and under-resourced disaster preparedness systems.