LAGOS, 5 September 2007 (IRIN) - More than 5,000 people were made homeless by flooding in and around the northern city of Sokoto this week, bringing the number of victims to 50,000 throughout Nigeria in just two months, according to the national Red Cross.

"We've not had this type of flooding for many years and people had become complacent," an official of the Sokoto State emergency services Audu Mustapha, told IRIN.

"For many the floods came suddenly, leaving them no chance to escape," Mustapha said.

Hardest hit by the floods in Sokoto State was Kiyawa village in Goronyo District and Gamgam in Shagari Local Council District where nearly all the houses and farmlands went under water, he said.

At least 13 communities have been affected since floods started in the area two weeks ago, most of them located on the banks of the Sokoto and Rima rivers.

At least 68 people have been killed in floods in various parts of the country which have occurred over the last two months. "The worst hit area is Plateau [State] where more than 20 people died," Abiodun Orebiyi, secretary of the Nigerian Red Cross, told IRIN.

"Many of them were caught in flash floods; there was nothing they could do."

The Red Cross is providing food and other relief assistance to displaced people in camps in seven states: Plateau, Borno, Lagos, Kebbi, Taraba and Nassarawa.

"We gave them shelter in schools and provided psychological support to console them," said Orebiyi. "We also helped them with tracing family members who lost each other during the floods."

Floods occur every year in Nigeria but this year they have been worse than for several years. With more rains expected over the next couple of months experts expect even more severe flooding to come.

The international aid group, Action Aid, said it was setting up an emergency committee to help address the problem. "We will focus on the causes of the floods and the immediate needs of those affected," Otive Igbuzor, Action Aid's Nigeria country director, told IRIN.

Particularly at risk are towns and settlements lying close to rivers and streams, especially those lying downstream from dams on the country's major waterways, including the Niger, Benue, Kaduna and Ogun rivers, according to Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.

The latest flooding at the city of Sokoto was made worse by water overflowing from a dam in neighbouring Zamfara state, Igbuzor said.

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