At least 285 people have been killed and more than 640,000 displaced as a result of recent floods caused by torrential rains across Nigeria, according to the West African nation’s government.
In a statement on Wednesday, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said the flooding had affected 31 of the country’s 36 states, destroying 99,046 homes. Previous tolls announced last week included 259 deaths in 29 affected states and 625,239 displaced people.
More than 2,500 people have been injured and 127,544 hectares of farmland washed away, the agency said.
Local media reported on Thursday that a major bridge connecting the northeastern states of Yola and Gombe had collapsed, leaving thousands of people stranded.
NEMA confirmed later that the incident has caused “significant disruption to transportation across the region” and advised residents to “avoid the area until further notice, as the site poses serious safety risks.”
“The collapse is believed to have resulted from structural weaknesses exacerbated by heavy seasonal rains,” it stated.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the flooding crisis has exacerbated years of previous displacement, food insecurity, and economic hardship, with disastrous consequences in Africa’s most populous nation.
“Communities which, after years of conflict and violence, had started rebuilding their lives were struck by the floods and once again displaced,” the UNHCR representative in Nigeria, Arjun Jain, told journalists in Geneva on Tuesday.
The UN refugee agency said more than 400,000 people in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno State were affected, which was struck by a deluge last week after severe rains caused a breach in a dam.
Half of the state capital Maiduguri – a major humanitarian hub according to the UN – has been submerged.
On Sunday, the Nigerian Correctional Service declared 281 inmates missing after the flood brought down the walls of the prisons in Maiduguri.
“Upon the evacuation of inmates by officers of the service with support from sister security agencies to a safe and secure facility, 281 inmates were observed to be missing,” it said in a statement.
West Africa has experienced some of the heaviest flooding in decades this year. According to the UN, severe flooding across West and Central Africa has hit an estimated four million people so far, the majority of whom are children.
This week, the hydrological services agency in Abuja warned of potential flooding in 11 states as a result of the release of water from Cameroon’s Lagdo dam.