Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development Sadiya Umar Farouq says contrary to popular belief in some quarters, Bayelsa is not among the ten most flood-devastated states in the nation,
This comes after the state’s governor, Duoye Diri, recently chastised the federal government for allegedly failing to assist the state despite it being the nation’s cash cow.
The number of deaths recorded per state, the number of people displaced, the number of injuries, the number of houses damaged, the number of farmlands per hectare damaged, as well as the overall population affected were some of the criteria used in determining the states most affected, according to official statistics provided by the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
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According to the ministry’s 2022 flood data as of October 24, Jigawa had 91 fatalities, Anambra had 77, and Kogi had zero fatalities despite 471,991 people being affected.
In total, 3,219,780 Nigerians were impacted nationwide, while 1,427,370 people were forced to leave their homes and 612 people perished.
The Minister, Sadiya Umar Farouk, made the revelation when she appeared during the Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
In response to Chief Edwin Clark, the president of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), who recently claimed that she was not humane in her role as minister of humanitarian affairs regarding the treatment of flood-affected areas in Bayelsa and other regions of the South, she stated that Jigawa is the region most affected by the current floods.