Surviving catastrophic floods in northeast Nigeria

Last week, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) delivered a landmark advisory opinion on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, the first such legal ruling ever delivered by the court. Crucially, for the first time, the world’s highest court clarified that all states have clear obligations under international law to address the climate crisis. 

Christian Aid Ireland’s Policy & Advocacy Officer Ross Fitzpatrick welcomed the ruling, saying: “The Court has made it unequivocally clear that those most responsible for causing the climate crisis are legally bound to take action, can be held accountable for inaction, and may be required to provide reparations to those most affected.” 

While this ruling is as a landmark moment for climate justice and has the potential to spur much needed climate action, many of the world’s poorest countries, who are least responsible for causing the climate crisis, continue to bear its worst impacts. 

Christian Aid and our local partners see this firsthand in our day to day work supporting families to adapt to increasingly frequent extreme weather such as flooding and droughts as well as being there to help them pick up the pieces in the aftermath of climate disasters.  

Fifty one-year-old Mikail Malik Abdulhameed in northeast Nigeria is one of those who Christian Aid has supported.  Mikail lives with his wife and their six children in the village of Zannari which sits north of Maiduguri, in the Mafa local government area of Borno state. Mikail has lived in Zannari for around 17 years but is originally from a neighboring state where sadly violence left a lasting mark on him and caused him to leave.  

"I used to be a farmer in Adamawa State, but I stopped after witnessing my father's murder. This traumatic experience resulted in a stroke that affected my left side, including my leg and left hand.” 

Mikail built a new life for himself as a businessman in Zannari where he owns a food shop in front of his house to earn an income. He also owns a half an acre of land that he farms. But in September 2024, crisis would strike again for Mikail when his community was devastated by a severe flood that swept through the area.  

“Initially, people tried to barricade their doors with sandbags but the floodwaters surged with such force that it was impossible to stop them from entering their homes. I struggled to step outside as the water filled nearly every space. I’m grateful that people helped me out despite my disability; I survived when many others with similar conditions did not," Mikail recalled. 

Mikail recounted the terrifying experience of his family having to flee their home to take shelter in a school that had become a makeshift displacement camp as floodwaters began rapidly rising all around them.  

“Those with cars had to abandon them and flee on foot. We fled to the bush, our clothes soaked, clutching a few food items. Within ten minutes, the water level reached our chests. Even in the bush, we were terrified as the water continued to rise, and we had nowhere to sleep amidst swarms of mosquitoes without nets. We felt unsafe in the darkness and feared snake bites. Eventually, we returned and made our way to the Kaleri camp." 

Mikail said he can’t recall flooding of a similar scale happening for decades.  

“I remember a similar flood that occurred 30 years ago, but aside from that, I had not witnessed flooding of this magnitude.” 

Nigeria was hit hard by the climate crisis in 2024. The country is one of Africa’s most flood prone and last year saw 34 out of its 36 states flooded, with Borno state the worst impacted. In 2024, over 3 million people across the country were impacted by floods that killed 1,000 people and displaced around two million others. In September 2024, Maiduguri in northeast Nigeria’s Borno State faced the worst flash floods in over 30 years, with heavy rains causing the Alau Dam to collapse, affecting half a million people and displacing more than 400,000.