Twenty-one persons have been reported killed by flood in Jigawa, following torrential rainfall in the state.
The calamity also destroyed over 51, 000.00 houses, rendering hundreds of people homeless while others have fled to seek shelter from neighbouring states as well as to save their lives.
Executive Secretary, Jigawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Alhaji Yusuf Sani Babura, who confirmed this development in an interview with newsmen, Monday, said 17 out of the 27 local government areas of the state were already affected with three councils; Gwaram, Birnin Kudu , Kirikasamma and Gumel the worst hit by the flood disaster.
He added that hundreds of hectares of farmlands were washed away, explaining that crops worth billions of naira were lost to the calamity.
“Even though we are yet to ascertain the extent of damage by the flood to the farmlands, we have on record that the farmers at the affected areas incurred colossal of their crops,” Yusuf Sani pointed out.
He said, “We have already deployed our assessment teams who are working round the clock to assess the extent of loss incurred by our farmers and to report back to our office for further action.”
Alhaji Sani Babura further stated that the state government has already settled many victims of the flood in camps, adding that relief materials including food stuffs, blankets , rubber mats, tents, cloths, buckets, cooking utensils among others were being distributed to them on a regular basis
The SEMA executive secretary disclosed that the flood disaster was mostly caused by the over flow of water from River Hadejia.
It will be recalled that during the state executive council meeting which was presided over the Governor Muahmmad Badaru Abubakar last week, the council directed the State Emergency Management Agency to mitigate the sufferings of the flood victims.
