‘Floods displaced over 1.2m Nigerians, killed 1,237 in 2024’

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has revealed that 1,243,638 Nigerians were displaced and 1,237 lives lost due to floods across the country in 2024.

This was disclosed by Zubaida Umar, NEMA director-general, during a stakeholders’ engagement on national disaster preparedness and response held in Owerri, Imo state, on Tuesday.

Umar, represented by Evan Niko, NEMA’s head of partnership and collaboration, said the floods affected over 5.2 million people, injured 16,469, and damaged 1,439,296 farmlands.

The event, themed “Strengthening Resilience, Enhancing Preparedness and Response”, was aimed at improving coordinated efforts to mitigate the potential impact of 2025 floods, based on forecasts by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) and the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).

Umar noted that NEMA had developed climate-related risk assessments and disaster preparedness strategies to boost national and local capacity to respond.

“We have embarked on various activities aimed at preventing and mitigating the expected impacts of the disaster with a view to reminding stakeholders about their responsibilities in flood disaster management,” Umar said.

“Today’s downscaling exercise of the 2025 seasonal climate prediction is further aimed at acquainting major emergency management stakeholders about the predictions and what is expected of them, to mitigate the expected impacts of the disaster.”

Michael Ajide, principal relief officer, identified Imo as one of the high-risk flood-prone states, with Oguta and Ohaji-Egbema local government areas (LGA) topping the vulnerability chart.

He urged governments at all levels to invest in drainage systems and dam infrastructure to support resilient urban and rural planning, especially in riverine communities.

Also speaking, Nnamdi Igwe, NEMA’s head of operations for Abia and Imo states, called for the use of remote sensing technology for flood mapping, rehabilitation of local drainages, and strengthening of community liaison desks for improved communication and response.

Ekene Ahaneku, a healthcare officer with the Nigerian Red Cross Society, stressed the importance of deeper collaboration between federal and state emergency agencies to decentralise relief operations and achieve more efficient outcomes.

Eze Fred Nwachukwu, deputy chairman of the Imo Council of Traditional Rulers, expressed the council’s readiness to implement proactive strategies to enhance governance and disaster response at the grassroots level.