NIGER
FLOODS AFFECT MORE THAN 158,000 PEOPLE, CHOLERA KILLS 88
As of 30 August, heavy rains and floods have affected more than 158,000 people across the country’s eight regions, destroying over 10,300 houses, flooding hectares of crops and killing 67 people. The government and humanitarian partners are scaling up efforts to address the situation, including building and strengthening protective dykes. Food stock is also being prepositioned in the affected regions. Floods have been followed by outbreaks of cholera across six of the country’s eight regions, resulting in 2,641 cases of cholera including 88 deaths, as of 30 August, with an estimated 3 per cent case fatality rate. Maradi region, in the south-east of the country, is the epicenter of the epidemic and the most affected with 1,599 registered cases, including at least 139 imported cases from Nigeria, and 26 deaths.
So far, Diffa region, in the centre, and Agadez region, in the south-east, have not been affected but remain at risk due to their proximity to Maradi and Tahoua regions.
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
RESUMPTION OF HUMANITARIAN AID IN THE SOUTH-EAST
Humanitarian partners have resumed assistance in Bakouma, in the south-eastern Mbomou Prefecture, in a region with severe food insecurity. Over 12,300 people received food assistance in August. Humanitarian organizations had largely suspended their activities in the area due to the deteriorating security situation since December 2020 and after several vehicles from an interagency humanitarian mission were stolen in March 2021. Moreover, on 25 August, a medical organization deployed to support the five health facilities in the region, some of which had been looted and vandalized on several occasions between January and March 2021.
NIGERIA
90 ABDUCTED CHILDREN REUNITED WITH THEIR FAMILIES
On 26 August, 90 children who had been kidnapped from a school in north-western Nigeria were reunited with their parents, after being held captive since late May. Mass kidnappings of schoolchildren by suspected armed bandits are recurrent across the north-west and north-central regions. These areas are facing a complex crisis compounded by the rise of criminality and attacks on civilians. According to the authorities, 1,000 children have been abducted since December in the north-west region. On 27 August, in a separate incident, suspected armed bandits also released 15 students and four staff members who were kidnapped earlier in August from an agricultural college in Zamfara state, also in the northwest.
BENIN
HEAVY RAINS CAUSE FLOODS IN THE SOUTH, LEAVING ONE DEAD
Heavy downpour in the past weeks and surging Ouémé river waters have triggered flooding in the south of Benin, killing one person in Zou Department. As the Niger river in the northern part of Benin and the Ouémé river in the southeast of the country continue to rise, flooding is likely to worsen and extend to other localities, forcing people to leave their homes. As many as 900,000 people could be affected across the country.
In October 2020, over 7,000 people were displaced by floods in the communes of Kandi, Karimama, and Malanville in the Alibori Department, in the north, due to the Niger river overflowing.
Source: UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs