Nigeria issues flood warning as Niger Republic opens dam

Many states will experience severe flooding after the government of Niger Republic opened up its dam, the Director General of National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Mustapha Maihaja, has said.

Maihaja spoke in Abuja yesterday at coordination meeting called called to discuss how to respond to the information by the government of Niger Republic to Nigeria government of the impending water release from its dam which had reached the orange level.

“That gives us another concern as Kainji, Shiroro and Jebba dams are already splitting water,” he said. “The rivers in Kogi and Kebbi states are also already overflowing.”

Maihaja expressed concern that most state disaster management agencies lacked the preparedness, resources and capacity to respond to the type of the impending disaster.

“This [release of water from Niger Republic dam] is very alarming and something we should be concerned about. We must assess the preparedness of all stakeholders in response to the flood disaster,” he added.

He called on states to be prepared for the dangers ahead.

“By our record today, flood has affected 27 states while windstorm and rainstorm have affected 10 states in Nigeria,” the NEMA boss said.

NEMA’s record indicates that at least, 40,161 persons have been affected by flooding. There are 4,775 displaced persons in just one camp in Makurdi International Modern Market, Makurdi.

Speaking, the Director (Engineering Hydrology), Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Clem Onyeaso Nze said the orange alert was given by Niger Republic on September 7, 2017, hence flooding is expected to hit Kebbi on September 16, 2017.

He said the flood will affect many states including Kogi, Benue, Delta, Bayelsa, Anambra, Imo, Rivers and Abia states.

He advised the government to dam most of the rivers in the country to guard against flooding.