Nigeria. States in Northern Nigeria are bearing the brunt of a heavy downpour which has resulted in flooding, causing devastating destruction in its wake.
In Nigeria, the rains begin from June to October annually and yearly. From Kano to Kebbi, to Niger, Jigawa, Sokoto, Abuja and other northern states, the flooding was unexpected despite warnings of impending flood risk from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Nigeria Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA) and the Nigeria Meteorological Agency, (NiMET).
Over 3000 people have been displaced with two million hectares of farms destroyed and more than 100 people dead.
Niger state
In Niger state, 36 communities were affected by flooding in Lapai; in Minna, a lot of people have lost their properties, in Suleja, 13 people have died, 431 hectares of land and houses were destroyed.
In Mokwa local government area of Niger state, 780 people were affected by flood with over 200 buildings destroyed; a boat mishap due to flooding killed 10 people.
Fish farms worth over N100 millions were also washed away leaving the fish farmers at a great loss.
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Niger State Government had earlier appealed to all riverine communities, particularly the flood-prone areas in the state and those situated along the tributaries of river Niger, to be cautious and pay attention to the rising water levels in their areas.
Abuja
In the Gwagalada area in Abuja which is the capital of Niger state, landslides and floods caused by heavy rains displaced hundreds of people and destroyed several houses.
The bridge linking Abuja to Lokoja was submerged in the flood while over 30 buildings were affected in Gwagalada area of Abuja.
Kebbi
Kebbi is one of the rice-producing states in Nigeria and the flooding has destroyed over 500,000 hectares of farm produce especially rice farms.
Borno
Borno is one of the states affected by the Boko Haram insurgency and there are also Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in the state.
Heavy rains have not spared the IDPs either as at least 475 shelters in Bama area have been destroyed, affecting more than 2,481 displaced persons.
Foodstuff and non-food materials were also damaged.
Kano
20 local government areas out of 44 local government areas in Kano were affected by flooding this year.
In Rogo area of Kano state, 200 houses were destroyed and two people died while in Lambatta area, two people died and more than 5,000 houses were destroyed.
Nasarawa
In Nasarawa, the flood has caused the over-flooding of the River Kilema in Lafia which submerged farms, houses, and cemeteries.
Heavy floods occurred in Awe, Nasarawa, and Toto local government areas.
Warnings by NIHSA
The Nigeria Hydrological Serviced Agency (NIHSA) had earlier in the year predicted heavy rains across the country and early September. Another reduction revealed that 102 local government areas in 28 states will experience high probably risk areas.
NISHA had predicted how the rainfall pattern will occur adding that despite receiving the predictions, most states’ governments did not take steps to mitigate the damage.
He urged the state government to take action in tackling flooding that has been affecting the communities for years.
The Director-General of NIHSA, Clement Nze raised alarm about the looming flooding of the Niamey River in the Niger Republic and severe flooding across several states.
Nze also lamented that the state governors in Nigeria find it difficult to take action on flood disasters predicted by the agency.
