The International Organisation for Migration has warned that 4.2 million Nigerians are at risk of displacement as the annual rainy season intensifies in 2023. This prediction is part of the IOM’s 2023 Nigeria Response Overview Disaster Preparedness Plan issued in response to the country’s growing threat of climate-induced disaster. The National Emergency Management Agency said the 2012 flood disaster, the worst in over 40 years, displaced nearly 2.3 million people, killed 363, and destroyed or damaged about 597,476 houses. In October 2022, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development revealed that floods displaced over 1.4 million people, killed over 603 persons and injured more than 2,400 persons. Seven hundred thousand of the displaced persons were in Bayelsa State, where floods submerged about 300 communities after torrential rains.

Source: Punch July 30, 2023 12:50 UTC