This was made known in a statement by the NEMA Press Unit on Sunday which was shared on the agency’s X account.

The statement said, “The attention of the National Emergency Management Agency has been drawn to media reports on Sunday alleging that the Agency’s warehouse was looted by some hoodlums in Abuja.

“This is to clarify that the looted warehouse does not belong to NEMA. However, the Agency sympathises with the owners of the looted facility. “To forestall any security breach at NEMA facilities, the Director General Mustapha Habib Ahmed has directed Zonal Directors and Heads of Operations to strengthen security in and around the Agency’s offices and warehouses nationwide.”

Meanwhile, the Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration confirmed the looting of its warehouse in Dei-Dei on Sunday by residents in the FCT, over the economic hardship in the country.

Confirming the incident to our correspondent, the Spokesperson for the ARD Secretariat, Zakari Aliyu, said the Secretary, had earlier visited the warehouse, where the residents had looted everything in the store and vandalised the place, removing the roofs and windows.

He added that the FCT Minister of State, Dr Mariya Mahmoud, and the FCT Mandate Secretary, Agric Secretariat, Lawan Geidam, will again visit the facility on Monday, where more detailed information will be given regarding the incident.

“We visited the scene of the incident this morning. We visited with the secretary and some other officials of the secretariat. So, by tomorrow, the Secretary, I think, with the Minister of State, will pay another visit to that place.

“I am sure that a lot of information that will be useful to you, you will get it. If you can just be patient, tomorrow you will get all the information you need. If you go there, there is nothing there. If you know that place, do you know that they removed the roof, and the windows, inclusive, apart from the food items?”

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that a representative of the agency, Mr Dapo Akingbade, stated this in Abuja at the monthly meeting of the Water Sanitation and Hygiene in the Emergency Working Group.

According to Akingbade, 45 persons have died, while 171,545 persons have been displaced, with farmlands and other property destroyed in the affected states.

Akingbade, while giving an update as of October 7, said the agency had commenced an assessment of the flood situation in Adamawa with the activation of the emergency operation centre for coordination of interventions.

The flooding in Adamawa has impacted a lot of people and communities. At the EOC meeting, we recommended that all states activate their flood response plans.

“Also, we are also awaiting a detailed needs assessment report from Adamawa so as to know the appropriate areas of APC response,” he said.

The NEMA official said there was a need for the WASH sector to be well-prepared, saying collective responsibility was needed to mitigate the impact of emergency situations in the country.

The Head of the Minna Operations Office, Zhinab Sa’idu issued a warning in the state capital, Minna stating that Mokwa, Shiroro, Lavun, and Borgu local government areas are at high risk of flooding between July and November. She also mentioned that Edati, Gbako, Wushishi, Rafi, Mashegu, Magama, and Agwara are at moderate risk of flooding during the same period.

“It is pertinent to note that Niger State has already started experiencing flood and windstorm in some of these areas and hence the need for the people of the state to take serious precaution to avoid any further damage to properties and loss of lives,” she said.

Sa’idu advised people in the LGAs to keep their drainage clean to prevent waterways and channels from getting blocked. She also recommended that those living on flood plains and river banks should move to higher and safer areas.

“There is a strong sign that the water levels along River Niger is rising and this will consequently raise the water levels along its tributaries, therefore leading to an overflow of water on the river banks, which will have significant impact on the settlements around the rivers,” she said.

Recall that a total of 2,518 stranded Nigerians were evacuated from Sudan last month.

After which, the National Emergency Management Agency planned a mop operation to bring those still stranded back to the country.

Our correspondent learnt that the aircraft, from Tarco Airline left Port Sudan International Airport on Saturday, June 24 at 10:45am with 125 Nigerian nationals.

The flight is expected to arrive in Abuja around 5:45 pm (Nigerian time).

NEMA Coordinator, Kano Territorial Office, Dr Nuradeen Abdullahi, received them on behalf of the agency.

Abdullahi said the stranded Nigerians arrived at the airport at about 10pm on board Boeing 737-7k9 ASKY Airlines operated by Ethiopian Airlines.

“The returnees were brought back to Kano under the care of the International Organisation for Migration from N’djamena through a voluntary repatriation programme.

The programme is meant for distressed Nigerians who left the country to seek greener pastures in various European countries but can’t afford to return when their journey became frustrated,” he said.

Abdullahi disclosed that the returnees were made up of 24 male adults, 23 female adults and 58 children. The returnees are from Katsina, Kano, Adamawa, Maiduguri, Yobe and Taraba States among others.

They will be undergoing a four-day vocational skills training and will be provided with capital to enable them to set up their businesses and become self-reliant,” he added.

He, however, advised the returnees to be advocates of the campaign against irregular migration.

He also called on Nigerians to avoid endangering their lives by travelling to seek greener pastures in other countries, saying no country is better than Nigeria.

He noted that the agency between May and October 2022, received 560 Nigerians stranded from Agades, Niger Republic, Khartoum Sudan and were trained on various skills acquisition.

Some of the returnees who spoke to journalists at the airport said they travelled out of the country to seek greener pastures.

542 Nigerians were evacuated from the UAE and arrived at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja on Sunday.

According to NEMA, the evacuees who returned on board Max Air flight consisted of 79 males, 460 females and three infants.

Speaking to our correspondent, the Head of the Media Unit, NEMA, Manzo Ekeziel, said plans were in place to see the return of more Nigerians stranded in the UAE.

He said, “The Federal Government received communication and decided to support them back to the country. I don’t know if there’s any diplomatic row or not.

He continued, “There are some of them that could not come in today but arrangement is on for them to be transported, maybe tomorrow. I’m not sure of the total number of those still left behind.

“One of the evacuees, Blessing Okorie, from Ebonyi State, interacted with, blamed a new visa policy; and that they could not get a work permit.

She said she travelled to that country with valid papers but after some time, according to her, the government of the UAE came up with a new visa policy that made her unable to get a work permit. Because of that, she was sacked from where she was working and, according to her, she had to hustle.”

Meanwhile, a statement issued by the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission revealed that the evacuees were given $100 each to facilitate their return home.

The News Agency of Nigeria quoted Ahmed as disclosing this at a National Consultative Workshop on 2022 Flood Preparedness, Mitigation and Response, organised by the agency, on Tuesday in Abuja.

Although, Ahmed did not list the affected local governments and states, he said the agency has sent advisory letters and maps showing predicted flood risk areas in various states to the respective state governments.

The NEMA boss said the workshop was one of the steps outlined by the agency to bring stakeholders together.

He said it was to collectively prepare and provide strategies to strengthen flood risk mitigation and effective response.

Ahmed said, “This (workshop) followed the 2022 Seasonal Climate Prediction released by Nigerian Meteorological Agency and the Annual Flood Outlook released by Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency.

“Efforts must be made to mitigate and respond effectively to flooding.

We have sent advisory letters and maps showing predicted flood risk areas in various states to the respective state governments.

“We have also produced risk maps for vulnerable local government areas as forecasted by NIHSA’s Annual Flood Outlook.”

He added that state emergency management agencies as well as local emergency management committees must be proactive.

He said this would ensure effective and efficient flood preparedness, mitigation and response.

The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, called on relevant stakeholders to take proactive measures in addressing floods and its associated impacts. Farouq, who was represented by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Disaster Management, Dr Abubakar Suleiman, added that adequate information must be sent out to the public for effective preparation.

NEMA South-West Zonal Coordinator, Mr Ibrahim Farinloye, made the announcement on Wednesday in Lagos.

Fire gutted shops under the Apogbon section of the Eko Bridge on Wednesday.

“The alternative routes are: movements from Ikorodu Road, take a detour via Jibowu to connect Yaba through to Oyingbo or Adekunle, from there to Adeniji and Adeniji to Ebutte Ero or continue movements toward CSM or inner Marina.

“Second route for those going to Ijora, Costain or inner part of Surulere, can continue through the crawling movement to connect Eko bridge, take a detour to Ijora and continue the journey to Apapa or toward Leventis, UBA roundabout to connect Marina. The Federal Ministry of Works has been called upon to close the bridge and carry out integrity tests to determine the safety of the bridge for further usage,’’ Farinloye said.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Wednesday, Nov. 17, received the stranded Nigerians at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The stranded Nigerians arrived at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport Tuesday night, Nov. 16.

They were brought back to Nigeria by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) through a voluntary repatriation programme for the distressed who had left the country to seek greener pastures in various European countries but could not afford to return when they became frustrated with their journey.

The returnees are made up of 60 male adults, 29 female adults, three male and one female teenager, with two infants (one male and the other female).