Two children have died in north-western Nigeria after the building they were in collapsed amid severe flooding that has plagued the region for weeks, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported. The incident occurred in Katsina, one of seven states in the north-west hit hardest by the flooding, which has already claimed dozens of lives.
A third child sustained injuries in the collapse, according to NEMA. The agency announced on Thursday that at least 179 people have died across Nigeria due to the floods, with tens of thousands displaced from their homes.
President Bola Tinubu’s office issued a statement expressing profound grief over the widespread devastation caused by the floods on communities and farmlands. The president underscored the urgent need to address environmental concerns and enhance the country’s climate resilience and adaptability.
The floods have also destroyed around 107,000 hectares of farmland, a significant blow as Nigerians grapple with soaring food prices amidst the country’s worst economic crisis in a generation, marked by double-digit inflation and foreign currency shortages.
NEMA and the UN refugee agency noted that many of those displaced by the flooding had already fled their homes in the north-west due to ongoing militant attacks. The UN described the floods as a “devastating” event that has caused “death and destruction.”
Nigeria is still reeling from the impacts of its worst flooding in over a decade in 2022, which killed more than 600 people and displaced approximately 1.3 million.
