Flooding: Jigawa Is The Worst-hit State, Not Bayelsa – FG

The Federal Government has said that Jigawa is the worst-hit state by the recent floods, adding that Bayelsa is not among the top ten most affected states.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, made this known while addressing State House Correspondents on Thursday.

Farouq stated that from an assessment carried out so far by the ministry, Jigawa is ranked the number one most-hit state, and not Bayelsa nor Kogi State.

The minister said the criteria used to arrive at the conclusion are based on the number of deaths recorded and displaced persons per state, the number of injuries, partially damaged, houses totally damaged, and farmlands partially and totally damaged.

She made the comment in reaction to claims by the leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Edwin Clark, that the federal government has abandoned flood victims in the Niger Delta.

However, according to the government’s flood data as of October 24, 257,913 persons were affected in Bayelsa while 166,076 persons were affected in Jigawa. 219,471 were displaced in Bayelsa while 68,883 were displaced in Jigawa.

The number of injured persons was put at 81 and 148 for Bayelsa and Jigawa respectively. Also, 58 deaths were recorded in Bayelsa while 91 were recorded in Jigawa.

The number of houses partially damaged by floods in Bayelsa was put at 26,509 and 1,564 for Jigawa while 703 farmlands were partially damaged in Bayelsa and 3,849 were affected in Jigawa.