Flash floods that ripped through parts of Niger State have killed more than 100 people, an emergency services official said on Friday, with the toll expected to rise further.
Teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents after torrential rains late on Wednesday washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the city of Mokwa, in Niger State.
“We have so far recovered 115 bodies and more are expected to be recovered because the flood came from far distance and washed people into the River Niger,” Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency told AFP.
“Downstream, bodies are still being recovered. So, the toll keeps rising,” he added.
He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members have been accounted for.
“Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes,” he said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses from under the rubble.
Earlier on Friday, an official coordinating the search and rescue operation, Hussaini Isah, had given a provisional toll of 88.
An AFP journalist saw emergency services conducting search and rescue operations as residents searched through the rubble of collapsed buildings as flood waters flowed alongside.
‘We lost everything’
Displaced children played in the flood waters, heightening the possibility of exposure to water-borne diseases as at least two bodies lay covered in printed cloth and banana leaves.
An emotional woman in a maroon headscarf sat with tears dripping down her face.
Emergency responders at the scene of the flash flood in Mokwa, Niger State
Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters “we lost at least 15 from this house. The property (is) gone. We lost everything”.
Fisherman Danjuma Shaba, 35, said he slept rough in a car park.
“I don’t have a house to sleep in. My house has already collapsed,” said Shaba.
Nigeria’s rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year.
Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the west African country.
Scientists have also warned that climate change is already fuelling more extreme weather patterns.
In Nigeria, the floods are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria’s 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday.
In 2024, more than 1,200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, making it one of the country’s worst floods in decades, according to the National Emergency Management Agency.
Niger deputy gov, LG chair visit Mokwa flash flood victims
Meanwhile, the Deputy Governor of Niger State, Comrade Yakubu Garba, alongside the Executive Chairman of Mokwa Local Government Area, Hon. (Amb.) Jibril Abdullahi Muregi, has visited victims of the flash flood disaster that followed a heavy downpour in parts of Mokwa township on Thursday.
They were accompanied by Hon. Zakari Ndagi Kinbokun, Member Representing Mokwa Constituency; Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Hon. Ahmed Baba Suleiman Yumu; APC State Deputy Chairman, Hon. Zakari Rabba; Alh. Shehu Edogi; APC State Ex Officio and Member I of the Niger State Universal Basic Education Board (NSUBEB), Hajiya Kaka Wabi; APC Zone ‘A’ Chairman, Hon. Shuaibu Ibn Ahmed (Yaminin); representative of the Etsu Nupe, Pharm. Yahaya Aliyu, Mayakin Nupe; Hajia Hauwa Koroka; and the APC Zone Woman Leader.
Describing the incident as a tragic natural disaster, Hon. Muregi noted that thousands of people had been displaced, lives lost, and many injured.
He expressed appreciation for the swift response of the Niger State Government under the able leadership of Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, and commended the Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mrs Zubaida Umar; Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA); the International Organization for Migration (IOM); Red Cross Nigeria; and other organisations and individuals for their timely support.
He announced that the Council had provided an educational facility as a temporary shelter (IDP camp) for the displaced victims, while efforts were ongoing to mobilise additional support.
He assured residents of the Council’s continued commitment and prayed against a recurrence of such a calamity
