Several states, including Kaduna, Nasarawa, Bauchi and Jigawa, have intensified campaigns to avert flood crisis.

According to figures obtained by The PUNCH from the National Emergency Management Agency on Monday, no fewer than 232 persons have lost their lives, while 121,224 others have been displaced following floods that swept through parts of the country as of September 20.

The 2025 flood dashboard shows that at least 339,658 people also recorded some form of losses, with 681 sustaining various degrees of injuries.

Deaths were recorded in seven states, with Niger State accounting for 163 fatalities, Adamawa 59, Taraba five, Yobe two, Borno, Gombe, and Jigawa one each, bringing the nationwide death toll to 232. The floods also resulted in 115 cases of missing persons across the country.

The disaster also left 42,301 houses damaged and destroyed about 48,447 hectares of cultivated farmlands.

The most impacted states include Lagos, where 57,951 people were affected, 3,680 displaced and 3,244 houses damaged; Adamawa, with 57,890 affected, 23,077 displaced, 438 injured, 59 killed, and more than 9,000 farmlands destroyed; and Akwa-Ibom, where 46,233 persons were affected, 40,140 displaced, with over 17,000 homes and farmlands damaged.

Other states severely hit are Imo, which recorded 29,242 affected, 15,607 displaced, 81 injured, and hundreds of homes and farms destroyed; Taraba, with 26,722 affected, 3,080 displaced, 88 injured, and five killed; Rivers, with 22,345 affected and 9,645 displaced; Delta, with 14,057 affected and 3,325 displaced; Abia, where 11,907 were affected, 4,896 displaced, and 21 injured; and Edo, with 10,608 affected and 2,439 displaced.

Also affected are Borno, which had 8,164 people impacted, 2,436 displaced, three injured, and one death; Kaduna, with 7,334 affected and 662 displaced; Niger, where 6,041 were affected, 1,860 displaced, 11 injured, and 163 deaths; Bayelsa, with 5,868 affected; Cross River, which reported 5,646 affected and 5,518 displaced; Yobe, where 4,256 were affected, 486 displaced, and two killed; Sokoto, with 4,278 affected and 1,287 displaced; Gombe, where 4,098 were affected, 865 displaced, 12 injured, and one death; and Ondo, which reported 3,735 affected and 363 displaced.

The floods further impacted Jigawa, with 3,650 affected, 293 displaced, and one death; Kogi, where 2,825 were affected; Kwara, which recorded 2,663 affected and extensive farmland losses; Anambra, with 925 affected and 816 displaced; Nasarawa, where 749 persons were affected and all displaced; Kano, which recorded 1,446 affected; and the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja), where 1,025 people were affected and 117 houses damaged.

NEMA identified food, shelter, health services, water and sanitation, and livelihood support as the most urgent needs of victims.

In the aftermath of the floods, NEMA identified several obstacles hampering response efforts. Resource shortage was the most pressing challenge, accounting for 68 per cent of reported difficulties.

This was followed by the inaccessibility of flooded communities (17 per cent), which made it difficult for rescue teams and relief materials to reach victims. Security risks (six per cent) in some locations also slowed operations, while community resistance (seven per cent) further complicated humanitarian access and aid delivery.

The Gombe State Emergency Management Agency said the floods had displaced hundreds of households and claimed several lives since the start of the rainy season.

The Executive Secretary of SEMA, Gombe, Haruna Abdullahi, confirmed that no fewer than 986 households have been affected so far, while 15 lives have been lost to flood-related incidents.

“The situation is worrying. From the beginning of this rainy season till date, we have recorded 15 deaths, and close to 1,000 households have been displaced across different communities,” Abdullahi said.

He explained that one of the most recent incidents occurred at Jurara in Kwami Local Government Area, where about 96 people were displaced and currently being hosted by members of the community.

“So, also at Jalingon Kamu in Kaltungo Local Government Area, about 102 persons were dislocated and are now managing with their neighbours,” he added.

Abdullahi added that a tragic canoe accident compounded the situation in Funakaye Local Government Area.

“A canoe capsized in a village near Bage, leading to the death of five people, while only two survived,” he said.

The SEMA boss, however, assured that the agency was working with local authorities and humanitarian partners to provide relief to victims, even as he urged residents in flood-prone areas to take precautionary measures during the peak of the rainy season.

In Sokoto, findings from a joint assessment conducted by SEMA and NEMA showed that the torrential downpours on September 4 and 9 ravaged 61 communities in Rabah Local Government Area, destroying about 2,200 houses and displacing more than 5,300 households.

With flooding already affecting over 5,000 households and killing at least two people in Sokoto alone in the past fortnight, humanitarian groups and community leaders are calling for urgent interventions to protect lives, provide relief to displaced families, and invest in long-term flood and water transport safety measures.

Many houses were destroyed during the recent flood disaster, which ravaged a number of local government areas of Kano State within the last two weeks.

The Executive Secretary of the Kano SEMA, Alhaji Isyaku Kubarachi, said, “As you know, the rainy season is coming to an end, but the problem is that whenever it rains, the rain is always accompanied by strong windstorms, thereby causing a lot of havoc to many houses by uprooting the roofing of the affected houses.

“We have several such houses and we even recorded fatalities, but I cannot give you the exact number of persons affected or houses destroyed because we’re still working on it,” he said.

Kunarachi said when they finished compilation of the affected persons and houses, they would forward the comprehensive report to the state government. (PUNCH)