People stuck by floods after several days of rainfall. In Nigeria, Kogi, on October 6, 2022. Fatai Campbell/AP Lagos — On Sunday, President Muhammadu Buhari reported that a boat capsized in a flood-swollen river in the Nigerian state of Anambra, killing nearly everyone on board. Friday’s flooding of the Niger River led the capsized boat, which was carrying approximately 85 people, to capsize. “Emergency services have confirmed 76 deaths after a boat carrying 85 people crashed in the Ogbaru region of the state due to increasing floodwaters,” Buhari’s office cited him as saying. He instructed the emergency services to assist the victims.
He continued, “I pray for the repose of the souls of the departed, for everyone’s safety, and for the well-being of the family members of the victims of this awful catastrophe.” Sunday morning, emergency services reported that rising water levels were impeding rescue efforts.
On October 7, 2022, hundreds of people perished when an overloaded boat sank on the flood-swollen Niger River in the Ogbaru region of Nigeria’s Anambra state, as indicated by a red marker on a Google Maps image.
Google Maps Thickman Tanimu, the southeast coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP, “The water level is too high and dangerous for a seamless search and rescue effort.
” The water level was around one-tenth higher than it was a decade ago, he said, making the floods the worst the country has seen in years. NEMA requested helicopters from the Nigerian Air Force for the rescue mission.
The governor of Anambra state, Charles Soludo, advised inhabitants of flood-ravaged areas to migrate, saying that the government will assist those affected by the natural calamity. “The administration and good people of Anambra State are still stunned by this occurrence.
I empathize with the families of the victims “Soludo stated in a declaration. Frequent boating mishaps occur in Nigeria due to overloading, speeding, poor maintenance, and contempt for navigational regulations.
Since the beginning of the rainy season, numerous sections of the nation of over 200 million people in West Africa have been devastated by floods. According to emergency agencies, more than 300 people have been killed and at least 100,000 have been rendered homeless.
The persistent rain has washed away fields and crops, creating fears of food shortages, famine, and hunger in a nation already reeling with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine conflict.