The Nigerian Red Cross Society (NRCS), on Thursday, launched an emergency appeal in order to raise 13 million for flood victims across the country as part of humanitarian support to ease the suffering of the people.
It’s said the Red Cross manages several IDP Camps across the country and provides displaced persons with practical and actionable instructions that they can use to seek better health outcomes and mitigate the effects of the flooding.
Secretary-General of NRCS, Abubakar Kende, disclosed this in Abuja, at a press briefing, confirming that over 2.8 million people have been affected, at least 612 lives have been lost, and more than 2,500 people have been injured. While two million people have fled or were evacuated from high-risk areas, carrying only the belongings they could take with them.
Kende noted that the NRCS volunteers are executing anticipatory actions in Cross River, Jigawa & Kebbi, in NRCS/BRC Project DM projects in Imo, FCT & Lagos and others.
He said: “We have carried out Relief activities including evacuation of affected persons to safer ground, awareness activities on water, sanitation and hygiene practices.
“We have activated Emergency first aid teams which have been deployed in Cross River, Jigawa and Kebbi states. The 37 branches of the NRCS have been engaged in rapid needs assessments of affected communities and have created a dashboard that is being regularly updated.
“Most importantly, barely 10 days ago, the NRCS launched an Emergency Appeal in order to raise 13 million Swiss Francs which will be used to support up to 500,000 people and focus on the provision of Health, Care, Water, Sanitation, Hygiene Promotion, search, rescue. Rapid needs assessments, deploy Emergency First Aid Teams and many more.
“If we get these funds, the Red Cross will use them to scale up these activities across the 37 branches of our organization. Across Nigeria, the NRCS has mobilized over 10,000 volunteers and 514 staff who are actively supporting State Emergency Management Agencies in evacuation, camp management, and relief activities.
“While the Red Cross has gotten a few promises of Assistance, the task before us is huge and we need all the help we can get. It is at this juncture that we would like to appeal to the general public and private sector to kindly donate resources in order to aid the Red Cross effort Flood Disaster Effort and alleviate the massive human suffering”.