The federal government said on Monday that over three million Nigerians remain internally displaced as a result of flooding, insecurity, and other natural disasters worsening the humanitarian crisis in the country.

Minister of State for Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, Tanko Sununu, who raised the concern warned that millions of citizens’ risk sliding deeper into hunger and malnutrition as global aid funding dwindles if concerted efforts were not taken to address issues of flooding which he said has ravaged farmland across the country.

Speaking during the inauguration of the House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Flood Management and Response, the minister said 65 percent of poor and vulnerable Nigerians were resident in the northern part of the country, with 70 per cent of them being poor farmers who no longer have access to their farm lands as a result is flooding and insecurity,

Citing data from the United Nations, the minister said over 24.8 million Nigerians have suffered some form of hunger, while more than 3 million people remain internally displaced as a result of flooding, insecurity, and other natural disasters.

He said, “Globally, humanitarian funding is shrinking, and Nigeria is not exempt. Just a few days ago, the World Food Programme suspended some of its activities, which had supported more than 1.2 million Nigerians with emergency transfers in the North-East.

This leaves over 300,000 children at risk of malnutrition, while more than 200,000 are already receiving treatment.”