Flood: Red Cross seeks support for victims

Last updated Nov 4, 2022

The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS) has called for support to raise 13 million Swiss Francs in emergency funds to address flooding in Nigeria. Abubakar Kende, Secretary-General, NRCS represented by Mr Benson Agbro, the Director of Disaster Management of the society made the call in Abuja on Thursday at a news briefing.

He said that the flooding had resulted in more than 600 fatalities with about 2,400 people with injuries across the country. “…the NRCS inaugurated an emergency appeal in order to raise 13 million Swiss Francs which will be used to support up to 500,000 people… Also, to focus on the provision of healthcare, water, sanitation, hygiene promotion, search and rescue. Rapid NEEDS assessments deploy emergency first aid teams and many more,” he said.

According to him, when the funds are gotten, NRCS will use the funds to scale up these activities across the 37 branches of the organisation. He said that the society had mobilized more than 10,000 volunteers and 514 staff to actively support State Emergency Management Agencies in evacuation, camp management, and relief activities.

Kende said that the task before them is huge and they need help to achieve their goals. He said that the floods had triggered a cholera outbreak in Borno, Adamawa, and Yobe according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

However, he reiterated that according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), unusually heavy rainfall in 29 of Nigeria’s 36 states had resulted in massive flooding which has displaced more than 1.4 million people and affected more than 2.5 million people damaging homes, infrastructure, and farmlands. According to him, it has also caused a lack of access to proper sanitation, and hygiene facilities and the contamination of water are likely to further increase the spread of cholera and other waterborne diseases.

“We are also carrying out awareness creation in all our 37 branches, we have carried out Relief activities including evacuation of affected persons to safer grounds, and awareness activities on water, sanitation and hygiene practices. “We have activated emergency first aid teams which have been deployed in Cross River, Jigawa and Kebbi states and so many,” he said. “We will like to appeal to the general public and private sector to kindly donate resources in order to aid the society address flood disaster effort and alleviate the massive human suffering,” he added.

NAN/S.S