Over 100 Dead, Thousands Displaced as Floods Ravage Niger State, Nigeria
Torrential rains have triggered devastating floods in Nigeria’s central Niger State, leaving at least 115 people dead and several others missing, local authorities confirmed on Friday.
The downpour, which began late Wednesday and continued into Thursday morning, submerged large parts of Mokwa, a commercial town approximately 370 kilometers (230 miles) west of the capital, Abuja. More than 3,000 homes were reportedly destroyed, and widespread damage to infrastructure has been recorded.
The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had earlier issued a severe weather warning for Abuja and 14 of the country’s 36 states, including Niger, forecasting heavy storms. This prediction proved accurate as floodwaters quickly overwhelmed the region, which has seen a rising frequency of such disasters in recent years.
Ibrahim Audu Hussein, spokesperson for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA), said rescue operations were ongoing as of Friday. “We have so far recovered 115 bodies, and more are expected. The floodwaters came from a distant location and swept people into the River Niger. Bodies are still being recovered downstream,” he told AFP.
Niger is Nigeria’s largest state by landmass and is home to three major hydroelectric dams — Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro — all vital to the national power grid. A fourth dam is currently under construction. The state’s vulnerability to flooding has increased, with April alone seeing water released from one of the dams destroying more than 5,000 farms across 30 communities, including Mokwa. Local media have reported this as the sixth major flood incident in the state this year.
The disaster echoes the catastrophic floods of 2022, which claimed over 600 lives across Nigeria, displaced 1.4 million people, and ravaged 440,000 hectares of farmland. Climate experts continue to warn that global warming is likely to exacerbate extreme weather events, including flooding, across the region.
Mokwa’s strategic position as a trade hub, with constant movement of goods by heavy-duty trucks, has made the impact of the disaster even more severe. Relief efforts are ongoing, with federal and state agencies racing against time to locate missing persons and provide aid to survivors.