Floods kill 170, displace 200,000 in northern Nigeria

At least 170 people have been killed and over 200,000 people displaced following weeks of floods that ravaged large swathes of northern Nigeria.

The National Emergency Management Authority (NEMA) warned that the torrential rains and flash floods could hit other parts of the country amid a notable rise in water levels in the two largest rivers — the Niger and the Benue.

The floods also injured nearly 2,000 people and destroyed more than 100,000 hectares of farmland, according to the latest data from the disaster management agency shared with CNN.

Failing or non-existing drainage infrastructure is to blame along with Climate change which has provoked erratic weather patterns across Africa, with prolonged droughts in southern Africa and torrential rains in desert areas.

Similar floods in 2022 killed more than 600 people, the worst recorded in the West African nation in more than a decade.