Nigeria Situation Report, 1 November 2022

HIGHLIGHTS

• The number of people affected by widespread flooding across Nigeria has risen to over 3.2 million, with over 600 fatalities. Over 1.4 million people are displaced.
• 14,000 people affected by cholera in Borno, Adamawa and Yobe States since January, with 443 deaths. Recent flooding increases risk of waterborne disease such as cholera.
• 4.1 million people face severe food insecurity this lean season and 1.74 million children under 5 are projected to suffer from acute malnutrition this year.

Nigeria is experiencing the worst flooding the country has seen in a decade. More than 3.2 million people have been affected. At least 612 people have lost their lives and over 2,700 have been injured, as of 3 November according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The flooding has impacted 34 of Nigeria’s 36 states. Flooding has forced 1.4 million people to flee their homes, adding to the already high levels of displacement in the country. Over 300,000 homes have been destroyed or damaged, creating a shelter crisis for hundreds of thousands of people.

The flooding is projected to have a devastating impact on food security. In a country where 19.5 million people are facing severe food insecurity, over 569,000 hectares of farmland have been destroyed or damaged ahead of the October harvest season. The damage to staple foods such as cassava, rice, and plantain among other crops has taken away both essential food sources and important means of livelihoods. Vulnerable people will need immediate humanitarian assistance to survive. Over the coming weeks, as the flood waters recede, aid such as shelter and livelihood support, including seeds, farming tools and cash assistance, among other help, will be critical to recovery.

In north-east Nigeria, a region already enduring a humanitarian crisis with 8.4 million people in need, over 210,000 people have been affected by the flooding, according to NEMA. Across Borno, Adamawa and Yobe (BAY) States, the flooding has exacerbated existing vulnerabilities for people already impacted by conflict, displacement and severe food insecurity and malnutrition. The contamination of water sources has increased the risk of waterborne disease during a severe cholera outbreak. The north-east has recorded 14,000 cases of cholera and 443 fatalities, as of 3 November. In many camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), shelters have been submerged or have collapsed under the intense pressure of the heavy rains. Many schools have been closed either due to the flooding or because they are occupied by affected communities as shelters. State governments and humanitarian partners have been responding to critical needs, including camp coordination and camp management (CCCM), shelter and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) interventions, but more resources are required to meet the overwhelming needs.

Adamawa State has completed a rapid needs assessment and partners in Yola are meeting to assess internal response capacity to meet priority needs for food, non-food items (NFIs), shelter, health and water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Partners are also pursuing external resource mobilization options. Relief assistance has been limited so far, with 83 per cent of the assessment’s respondents indicating they had not received assistance since the flooding started. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) are providing aid to the affected people, complementing the state and federal government response.

In Yobe State a joint inter-agency assessment was carried out and humanitarian partners and key government agencies are pooling resources to support affected people. Assessment results have shown priority needs of food, shelter, WASH, protection, and education. The identified resource gaps will guide resource mobilization for partners and state authorities. With the flood waters receding now, recovery efforts have remained slow despite the scale of the disaster.

11,000 cholera cases across the BAY states

A severe cholera outbreak has killed more than 465 people and affected over 18,000 others in 31 states in Nigeria since January. The north-east has been particularly hit hard, with 443 fatalities and 14,000 people affected, as of 3 November. Borno has 81 per cent of reported cases (11,000), followed by Yobe (2,400) and Adamawa (200). The recent flooding threatens to exacerbate the spread of cholera and other diseases including malaria and typhoid fever. Government and humanitarian partners are coordinating the response to the outbreak. Ongoing activities include active case search, case management, sensitization on cholera and other diseases, and key WASH activities such as dislodgement of latrines at IDP camps.

Admission into stabilization centres jumps by 90 per cent compared to 2021

Across the BAY states, 4,264 children under-five with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with medical complications were admitted in stabilization centres in September 2022, a massive 90 per cent increase compared to the same period last year. Also in September, 32,227 children with SAM without medical complications were admitted into outpatient treatment programmes.

Delayed and low levels of funding, inaccessibility and continued conflict have resulted in the nutrition sector reaching only 1.1 million of the 2.5 million people targeted (46 per cent) in the 2022 Humanitarian Response Plan (HRP). As of October 2022, only US$58.1 million of the $144.3 million required (40 per cent) for the HRP has been received. This severe underfunding has contributed to the low coverage of lifesaving nutrition interventions and left many vulnerable children and women unreached.