How the Floods Damaged the Delta Community and Caused Famine

Caroline Ogbotobo, 48, oblivious to drowning, moved swiftly through the filthy water that had engulfed the entire village of Abari - a coastal community in Delta State, to save on a her children and other people displaced by the floods.< /p>

Ms. Ogbotobo alongside dozens of residents of her community sought refuge in an unfinished multi-storey building.

Residents of the Abari community stuck in an unfinished building in 'one floor [PhotoCredit: Benedicta Akpede]

They were deprived of food, drinking water and all forms of medicine for several days. She said the roof was their only hope of survival until help arrived.

“We are dying; we are very hungry. Please help us,” Ms. Ogbotobo shouted last October, as she saw this journalist approaching the submerged building in a boat.

One of the one-story buildings [Photo credit: Benedicta Akpede]

“The water chased us away, we didn't know where to stay. Without this house, we don't even know where we would have been now,” the mother of five said. Delta flood

Between September and October 2022, many Nigerian cities were affected by floods.

The floods have displaced more than 1.4 million Nigerians in 26 of the country's 36 states, according to official figures.

More than 600 citizens were killed, while 2,407 people were injured to varying degrees, more than 108,393 hectares of farmland across the country was washed away and 200,000 homes were damaged, the government said. .

During a visit in late October, PREMIUM TIMES learned that several people had drowned and more than 3,233 households had been displaced as flooding worsened in the local government area's Abari community from Pantani, Delta State.

Ozoro University of Science and Technology, owned by Delta State, was partially submerged. Same with the Isoko North Local Government Area Secretariat and other public and private facilities.

Farmland has been washed away in parts of Ugbolu and Anwai regions in Asaba, the state capital.