At least 209 houses have been destroyed following a severe windstorm that swept through communities in Fika Local Government Area of Yobe State, leaving hundreds of families displaced and in urgent need of assistance.
Dr. Mohammed Goje, Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (YOSEMA), disclosed the extent of the devastation during a stakeholders’ engagement on the National Disaster Preparedness and Response Campaign (NPRC) organized by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Damaturu. “In 2025, we experienced one windstorm incident 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,” Goje stated.
Recent data from YOSEMA paints a grim picture of recurring natural disasters in Yobe State. In 2024 alone, 28,977 households—amounting to 68,954 individuals—were affected by windstorms and flooding. The disasters also resulted in 544 people sustaining various injuries due to building collapses caused by floods, and 47 deaths were recorded across 601 communities in all 17 local government areas of the state.
The Director General of NEMA, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, represented by the North East Zonal Director, Yakubu Suleiman, emphasized the urgency of engaging states in the region following the release of the 2025 seasonal climate prediction by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) and the annual flood outlook by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA). The engagement, she said, is a proactive measure to mitigate the impact of disasters in high-risk communities.
This year’s campaign, 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,” aims to build local capacity and foster community resilience in the face of increasingly frequent and severe weather events.
Authorities are now working to mobilize resources and coordinate relief efforts to support affected families, as Yobe State continues to grapple with the challenges of climate-induced disasters.
