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The Director General of the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency, Zubaida Umar, has directed the regional directors of the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency to work with the State Emergency Management Agencies to pre-position rescue equipment for immediate deployment in the event of flooding in the respective areas of operation.
Umar, who issued the directive at a meeting in Abuja, ordered the regional directors to report the activities to the Emergency Coordination Centre opened at the headquarters of the National Emergency Management Agency in the Federal Capital Territory.
In a statement, Manzo Ezekiel, head of the Nigeria Emergency Management Agency’s press department, said the director-general convened the meeting to strengthen the agency’s response and operational preparedness for flood disasters across the country.
The meeting held in Abuja also reviewed the status of floods in Nigeria, response measures taken so far and the commitment of various stakeholders, especially the National Emergency Management Agency, to the incident in their regions.
The statement read in part: “In his remarks, Umar directed the regional directors to strengthen synergy with the South African Emergency Management Agency to pre-position rescue equipment and facilities in their respective areas of responsibility so that they can be deployed immediately in case of floods and report to the Emergency Coordination Centre that has been opened at the South African Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Abuja.”
“Furthermore, she stressed the need for timely action to save lives and properties, adding that rapid assessments of flood events must also be conducted to determine further actions to support the affected population.”
Furthermore, the Director-General said that Regional Directors should leverage existing partnerships with stakeholders, especially the military, to request support from their disaster response forces to deploy the necessary resources and equipment for search and rescue operations.
Umar also held an interactive meeting with the General Staff in Abuja where she informed the technical staff at the headquarters to be ready to deploy in the states to intensify intervention in response to the severe floods.
NEMA recently activated its regional, territorial and operational offices to work with state emergency management agencies to conduct relief operations and assess the situation.
Once activated, NEMA search and rescue personnel were dispatched to the states affected by flooding. These personnel assisted the states in coordinating rescue operations with SEMA and other stakeholders.
As floods become more frequent, Umar further activated the Emergency Operations Centre at the agency’s headquarters in Abuja to oversee and coordinate the timely deployment of search and rescue resources in support of regional and district offices across the country.
Besides the Emergency Operation Centre (EOC), the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) chief also activated the Situation Room at the NEMA headquarters to collect, process flood data and disseminate authentic information from the incident site.
On July 8, 2024, The PUNCH reported that the federal government announced that as the rains intensified, no fewer than 10 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, suffered varying degrees of flooding or casualties.
The Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Professor Joseph Utsef, issued a red alert at a press conference in Abuja and warned that 21 more states could be hit by floods.
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