Hadejia floods, “unprecedented, devastating” – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has described the Hadejia floods in Jigawa State that claimed lives and caused massive destruction to rice farms as “unprecedented and devastating.”

President Buhari, in a statement issued on Tuesday by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, sympathised with the victims of the floods which, according to received reports, destroyed over 100,000 hectares of rice farms in the State.

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The President, while reacting to the tragedy, said it was a setback to agriculture and assured the victims of the incident that government would not abandon them.

He said: “this level of destruction as a result of a natural disaster is unprecedented and devastating. This destruction to farmlands is particularly worrisome because it comes at a time my government is vigorously pursuing efforts to boost local rice production and end importation of the commodity.

“Since agriculture is the largest employer of labour and a major source of income for most ordinary Nigerians, the destruction of rice farms in Jigawa State is bad news not only for the victims, but also for the government policy of achieving food sufficiency and food security in the country.”