The United Nations has announced the donation of $6m fund in support of the Maiduguri flood victims in Borno State.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohammed Fall, said a joint mission comprising UN agencies and NGOs, alongside the Nigeria Red Cross Society, visited the main city of Maiduguri over the weekend.

According to him, the team met with people who had been impacted – many of them had already been displaced multiple times by conflict and insecurity in the area.

The flood was caused by an overflow in the Alau Dam located just over 10 miles to the south of Maiduguri.

“We and our partners are providing them with hot meals, we are facilitating air drops of food in hard-to-reach areas cut off by flood waters, and we are also trucking in water.

“We are also providing water and sanitation hygiene services and water purification tablets to stem disease outbreaks.

“This is in addition to supplying hygiene and dignity kits to women and girls, as well as emergency health and shelter services.”

Dujarric said the staff of the UN Office of the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs were also working closely with donors to secure additional funding.

Flooding has damaged more than 125,000 hectares of farmland in Nigeria.