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01-06-2025
ABUJA: At least 115 people have died in floods caused by torrential rain in central Nigeria, officials have told media.
The downpours lasted for several hours, said the head of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (Nsema), Abullahi Baba-Arah.
He added that “surging flood water submerged and washed away over 50 residential houses with their occupants” in the town of Mokwa.
The Nigerian government has expressed its “profound sorrow” over the floods, with the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, saying that security and emergency agencies have been directed to assist in the search and rescue operation.
According to Nsema, the Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa districts of Mokwa were worst affected.
Mokwa’s District Head, Muhammad Shaba Aliyu, said it has been “60 years” since the community had suffered this kind of flooding.
“I beg the government to support us,” Aliyu said.
The search and rescue operation is still ongoing and many more people are still at risk, authorities say.
A local fisherman told media that he had been left homeless.
“I don’t have a house to sleep in. My house has already collapsed,” Danjuma Shaba said. Nigeria often experiences flooding during the rainy season which usually lasts from April to October.
The authorities have warned of heavy downpours in at least 15 of the country’s 36 states.
Last year, many parts of northern Nigeria experienced heavy rainfall and flooding which caused deaths, displacement of people and destruction of houses and infrastructure.
The country also suffered severe flooding in 2022, which forced around 1.3 million people out of the homes and caused more than 600 deaths.
An emergency services official said the death toll is at least 117 and was expected to rise. Bodies were brought in on May 30 and are yet to be counted. At least 45 people were reportedly injured. At least 1,500 people were affected, including 200 people that were displaced after their houses were damaged or destroyed by flooding. Critical infrastructure and croplands have been damaged as well. Over 800 residents were reported missing including a family of twelve where only four members were accounted for. More than 3,000 houses were submerged.
The flood started on May 28 after several hours of torrential rainfall in the town and surrounding areas. The flood submerged the town and washed away homes with residents inside and vehicles, including a tank truck. People were washed downstream into the Niger River. Excavator teams were needed to remove bodies that were stuck under debris. According to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, the Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa districts of the town were worst affected. Authorities said the search and rescue operation is still ongoing as of May 30 and many people are still at risk. Local government officials said a dam collapse in a nearby town worsened the situation.
Flooding in Nigeria has become a yearly occurrence that claims lives and destroys many properties. Last year, flooding in Nigeria killed more than 1,200 people, injured at least 2,712 others and displaced 1.2 million.
The A1 highway crosses the Niger at Gana to Jebba in Kwara State. Mokwa is a major meeting point where traders from the south buy food from growers in the north. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
