A police officer and three others were confirmed killed in a flood that also injured several people and washed away at least 12 communities in Yobe State’s Gulani Local Government Area.
Mohammed Goje, Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), who confirmed the incident, stated that it occurred within 24 hours of a heavy downpour.
“With shock, the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency received the devastating incident of flooding in some parts of Yobe State in the last 24 hours, where the impacts of the reported flooding have assumed threatening proportions, resulting in loss of lives and properties.”
He went on to say that the latest disaster displaced hundreds of households across two local government areas, with livestock and food reserves worth millions of Naira washed away by the flood.
The agency, in collaboration with Gulani stakeholders, assessed damage in seven of 11 communities, including Gulani, Bara, Gagure, and Njibulwa, which were rendered inaccessible due to bridge collapse.
According to the agency, displaced people are currently seeking shelter at government buildings throughout the affected communities.
“SEMA is mobilising resources and intensifying efforts to bring immediate relief to the affected communities, as directed by his Excellency the Executive of Yobe State, Hon. Mai Mala Buni, while alternate routes will be used to support the inaccessible communities,” says SEMA.
The state government had previously sought Federal Government intervention through the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to assist over a dozen communities in Yobe State that had been devastated by the recent flood.
