Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has joined the list of prominent Nigerians who have reacted to the devastating flood in Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital.
POLITICS NIGERIA understands that the flood, which is a result of the collapse of water channels at the Alau Dam, displaced many residents of Maiduguri.
Residential quarters, including parts of the Shehu of Borno Palace, Maiduguri Central Market, and University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, have been submerged.
Roads and bridges have also been submerged resulting in the inaccessibility of many areas.
Reports say GRA, Maiduguri Zoo, College of Nursing, College of Agriculture, and School of Health Technology, among others, are areas also badly hit by the flood.
In a long statement issued on his official Facebook page on Tuesday evening, Atiku argued that the Maiduguri flood has reached the level of a dire “national emergency.”
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections also released some statistics he claimed were gotten from the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, on the damages caused by recent floods states across the country.
He wrote, “The catastrophic flooding in Maiduguri has reached the level of a dire national emergency. According to media reports, the devastation is the result of the Alau Dam’s overflow and subsequent breach, which has forcibly displaced thousands of residents.
“This deluge has ravaged farms and plunged a significant portion of Maiduguri into an urgent humanitarian crisis. I am also informed by available statistics from NEMA that recent floods have damaged approximately 16,488 hectares of farmland across 27 states; destroyed 32,000 houses, and impacted no less than 227,000 people.”
The former vice president also called on federal government agencies tasked with managing disasters to speed up efforts in ameliorating the effects of the flood.
He extended his condolences to the people and government of Borno state as “they grapple with the profound economic repercussions of this disaster.”
Atiku also called on the public to “adhere closely to the government’s guidelines, especially as it relates to evacuating fom areas vulnerable to flooding to minimize further harm to lives and property during this challenging time.”
