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Nigeria
Nigeria flood emergency
Catastrophic rains and flooding have left hundreds of thousands homeless in Nigeria. Many of those affected were already living in displacement camps after fleeing conflict and climate change.
Nigeria
Catastrophic rains and flooding have left hundreds of thousands homeless in Nigeria. Many of those affected were already living in displacement camps after fleeing conflict and climate change.
Heavy rain and severe flooding have swept through parts of Nigeria. Over one million people have been affected. Over 250 people have died and more than 640,000 people have been displaced, including many who had already been uprooted by conflict and climate change.
Nigeria’s Alau Dam has collapsed and caused devastating flooding in the city of Maiduguri, the humanitarian hub for northeast Nigeria. Water has covered over 40 per cent of the town, including the Muna and Jere camps, which together shelter around 230,000 internally displaced people. The El Miskin camp, housing approximately 7,000 people, has also been flooded.
Across the country, vast areas of farmland are estimated to have been destroyed ahead of the harvest season. This threatens to increase food insecurity at a time when 32 million people in Nigeria are already facing acute hunger.
Access to hospitals, schools and markets has been hampered due to damaged infrastructure, including roads and bridges. Electricity and telecommunications networks have been affected, and concerns are rising over potential disease outbreaks.
The flooding ranges across West and Central Africa from Liberia to Nigeria and across Mali, Niger and Chad. Other dams in the region are also under pressure with the heavy rainfall, with fears that more dam collapses could lead to even greater destruction and displacement.
Floods in the region have already damaged at least 61 schools and 13 health centres.
UNHCR staff and partners are on the ground in Nigeria, conducting urgent assessments to determine the full extent of the damage and the needs of those affected.
UNHCR is prioritising the delivery of critical aid like tarpaulins to help displaced families build makeshift shelters and shield themselves from the ongoing rain. UNHCR teams are also distributing emergency kits and sanitation items.
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