No fewer than 209 houses were destroyed in Fika Local Government Area of Yobe State following a devastating windstorm that recently swept through the region.
The Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA), Dr. Mohammed Goje, made the disclosure during a stakeholders’ engagement on the National Disaster Preparedness and Response Campaign (NPRC) organised by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Damaturu, the state capital.
According to Dr. Goje, “In 2025, we experienced one windstorm incidence in Fika Local Government Area which affected about 209 households including public buildings. We are tracking and reviewing how we can support those affected communities.”
Statistics from YOSEMA further revealed that in 2024 alone, windstorms and flooding wreaked havoc across the state, affecting no fewer than 28,977 households—translating to about 68,954 individuals.
The data also indicated that 544 persons sustained varying degrees of injuries due to the collapse of buildings triggered by flooding, while 47 fatalities were recorded across 601 communities in the 17 local government areas of the state.
Speaking on the essence of the stakeholders’ engagement, the Director-General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, represented by the North-East Zonal Director, Yakubu Suleiman, explained that the initiative became necessary following the 2025 Seasonal Climate Prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the Annual Flood Outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA).
She said the campaign was designed as a proactive step to reduce the impact of natural disasters, particularly in vulnerable and high-risk communities.
Themed ‘Strengthening Resilience, Enhancing Preparedness and Response: Taking Disaster Risk Management to the Grassroots to Save Lives, Restore Normalcy and Build Communal Resilience Across Nigeria’, the campaign aims to deepen grassroots engagement in disaster risk reduction and foster coordinated emergency response mechanisms across the country.
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