In Nigeria’s Katsina State, two children were reported dead from a building collapse, adding to the dozens who lost their lives during weeks of severe flooding.
Katsina is one of the seven north-western states hit particularly hard by flooding.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said a third child was left with injuries following the building collapse.
On Thursday 29th August, the agency said at least 179 people across Nigeria have died as a result of floods, while tens of thousands have lost their homes.
In a statement, the office of Nigeria’s President Bola Tinubu said he had received “the news of the devastation wreaked by floods on communities and farmlands across the country with profound grief”.
Tinubu emphasised the need to address “environmental concerns” and “build a more climate resilient and adaptive society”, the statement added.
Around 107,000 hectares of farmland have been washed away – a statistic that is causing concern as Nigerians are already struggling under steep increases in food costs.
The country is facing its worst economic crisis in a generation, thanks to issues such as double-digit inflation and foreign currency shortages.
NEMA and the UN’s refugee agency noted that several of those displaced by the flooding had already fled their homes in the north-west due to repeated attacks by militants.
The UN’s refugee agency said the floods were a “devastating” event that has wrought “death and destruction”.
In 2022, Nigeria experienced its worst flooding in more than a decade, which killed more than 600 people and displaced around 1.3 million.