It stated, “More than 40,000 men, women and children – mostly internally displaced people – have little or no access to food or services in the town of Rann, Borno State, due to heavy flooding of the River Kaalia in neighbouring Cameroon since November 7.”
The statement added that the flooding damaged an estimated 4,000 hectares of farmlands, destroyed crops that were the main source of food for the internally displaced persons camped in Rann.
It lamented that stranded residents were running short of food and those who could afford it were paying high transportation fee to move out of the flooded areas.
The UN agency added that the fleeing people were also putting their lives at risk while crossing the river or travelling to safety.
It said Rann, a town where violent attacks from Boko Haram fighters were frequent, was difficult to access by humanitarian groups.
This, it stated, was due to the high insecurity and poor condition of the roads that linked the town to other communities.
IOM claimed that its officials had managed to leave Rann before the road became impassable.
The statement by UN-OCHA said humanitarian partners were mobilising resources to reach the stranded population via the UN Humanitarian Air Services.
“Providing food is the main priority, along with water, shelters and emergency health services,” it stated.
Read Also:
The statement further noted that in neighbouring Adamawa State, more than 100,000 people were also affected by severe flooding across seven local government areas following torrential rainfall and overflow of water from the River Niger and River Benue since October 27.
It stated that the Adamawa floods had caused the displacement of about 19,000 people, adding that the government had opened nine camps for the displaced people.
The statement added that the UN and humanitarian partners had provided reproductive health kits to more than 56,000 people; non-food items to 400 families; and farming items to 4,000 families in the areas that were not reached by the Adamawa State Government.
The UN lamented that Borno and Adamawa states were also facing the worst floods in seven years, which it claimed, had destroyed homes and livelihoods in the areas.
The statement added, “About 300,000 people have been affected by floods so far this year, which is at least five times more than expected in the humanitarian contingency plan based on an average from previous years.
“The latest flooding, coming at a time when the rainy season will usually be over, compounds an already dire humanitarian situation in two of the three states most affected by the 10-year conflict, with 7.1 million people in need of urgent assistance this year.
“The 2019 Humanitarian Response Plan for Nigeria is seeking US $848m to assist 6.2 million people and is 60 per cent funded so far.”
