Sadiya Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, has stated Bayelsa State is not among the top ten states most affected by the recent floods.
The minister who addressed State House correspondents at the weekly ministerial briefing on Thursday, said that from assessment carried out so far by the ministry, Jigawa is ranked number one most hit state.
She made the comment in reaction to claims made by elder statesman and leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Chief Edwin Clark who implored the Federal Government to act to save flood victims in the Niger Delta and not abandon them.
The minister said the criteria used to arrive at the conclusion are based on the following indices: the number of deaths recorded and displaced persons per state, number of injuries, partially damaged, houses totally damaged, farmlands partially a d totally damaged.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), over 600 people have died and millions displaced by devastating floods that hit more than 20 states in the last few months.
Houses and farmlands have been submerged in Lagos, Yobe, Borno, Taraba, Adamawa, Edo, Delta, Kogi, Niger, Plateau, Benue, Ebonyi, Anambra, Bauchi, Gombe, Kano, Jigawa, Zamfara, Kebbi, Sokoto, Imo, Abia States, and the Federal Capital Territory.
The 2022 floods have attracted international “solidarity”. In a letter to President Muhammadu Buhari, King Charles III sympathised with Nigeria over the “devastating” incidents.
President Muhammadu Buhari last month gave the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, 90 days to develop a comprehensive plan of action for the prevention of flood disaster in Nigeria.