50 killed as heavy rains, floods lash northern Nigeria

By Ibrahim Garba Shuaibu

KANO, Nigeria (AA) – At least 50 people have been killed in floods triggered by torrential rains in northern Nigeria, authorities said on Sunday.

Parts of Jigawa state have been lashed by heavy rainfall almost continuously since late July.

Thousands of homes have been damaged across Jigawa, according to Sani Yusuf, executive secretary of the state’s Emergency Management Agency.

Images circulating on social media showed vast tracts of land completely submerged, largely due to a lack of drainage infrastructure and overflowing water bodies in some areas.

In the village of Balangu alone, nearly 250 houses were destroyed and at least four people have died, Yusuf said.

At least 13 deaths have been reported in the Kafin Hausa district, including seven members of a family who were killed on Sunday, he added.

“We have set up 11 temporary camps in various parts of Jigawa, which are currently housing hundreds of people from across the state,” the official said.

In a statement on Saturday, Sadiya Umar Farouq, Nigeria’s humanitarian affairs and disaster management minister, lamented that deadly floods have become a “perennial” problem in Jigawa.

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency has warned of more rains in several northern states – Jigawa, Katsina, Kano, Borno, Yobe, Kaduna and Bauchi – over the coming days.