IHRC: Emergency Assistance, Not Politics Needed in Flooded Nigerian States

In a related development, the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC), has urged the federal, state and local governments to share the responsibility for protecting their citizens from disasters and help them to recover early.

The organisation, in a statement in Abuja, noted that the 2022 flooding being experienced in the country has been intense and confirmed as Nigeria’s worst flood disaster in a decade, increasingly becoming worse than those of 2012 and 2018.

Speaking after a participatory and damage assessment aimed at enhancing national and global efforts to mitigate flooding effects in Nigeria, IHRC Ambassador at Large and Head of Diplomatic Mission in Nigeria, Dr. Duru Hezekiah, expressed worry over the condition of victims of the disaster.

 “I am deeply distressed by the scope of devastation and suffering that have befallen many Nigerians caused by the rising floodwaters which have recorded human and material losses with several homes submerged by floods in Kogi, Anambra, Bauchi, the Gombe States, among others.

“Apart from submerging houses and farmlands, critical infrastructure such as schools, healthcare centres, police stations, banks, offices were also affected; a situation that made the state governments shut down schools in the riverine areas,” he said.

He explained that the current situation requires a more comprehensive approach, disaster relief, and emergency assistance devoid of political, ethnic, or religious discrimination to effectively support state and local governments and their citizens.

Expressing dissatisfaction over the delay in interventions by the government to find a lasting solution to the seasonal flooding in Nigeria, Hezekiah asserted that amid the overwhelming disaster, it was inhumane that due attention was not being given to the menace all over the country.

While lamenting the pains Nigerians were going through due to the flooding, he stated that instead of focusing on the forthcoming elections, a strategy should be devised on how to win what he termed the ravaging pandemic.
“We, therefore, have a serious and humanitarian tragedy on our hands that urgently requires our collective help in mitigating the effects by providing aid to individuals and households.

“We need to repair or replace disaster-damaged public facilities like schools and healthcare facilities, and hazard mitigation assistance for funding measures designed to reduce future losses to public and private property,” he stated.
While affirming that Kogi and other affected states are not alone in the situation, he highlighted the efforts of the governor of the state, Yahaya Bello, NEMA, and the various State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).

He urged states to make available to the public a toll-free telephone number in their situation rooms with the task of coordinating responses and obtaining urgent disastrous cases.

“In our compassionate plea as an intergovernmental diplomatic organisation, we hereby appeal to other international agencies; the IFAD, EU, NEWMAP and others to come to the aid of victims.
“We also urge governors to be accessible and flexible in accepting proposals and partnerships aimed at providing appropriate actions and implementation of participatory emergency plans when made,” the IHRC stated.