In pictures:Nigeria under water (BBC)
In recent months, various areas in Nigerian have been hit by torrential rainfall which caused widespread flooding across the country as the Niger River banks burst and overflowed. The worst floods in 50 years, over 300 people have been killed and more than two million have been displaced, with hundreds left homeless.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has called this year’s floods a ‘natural disaster’, as it has also raised concerns of a food crisis in the nation according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Nigeria.
In the above pictures, ohotographer Gideon Mendel visited communities in southern Nigeria battling to recover six weeks after their homes were flooded. He found many people’s houses in Igobeni, Bayelsa state, still waist-high with water.
Bayelsa state forms a part of the Niger Delta region, an area known for it’s massive crude oil production (home to Africa’s biggest energy industry), but has been severely neglected by both the oil industry and the federal government of Nigeria, resulting in detrimental environmental damage to the area.
