The Minister of State for Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako has warned that 94 towns are at risk of a five-day flooding beginning Tuesday, July 16, to end on July 20, 2024.
He identified locations and areas that would likely witness heavy rainfall and subsequent flooding based on the prediction.
He listed the states to be affected to include Adamawa State (Gbajili, Ganye); Abia State (Eziama, Arochukwu); Anambra State (Onitsha); Akwa Ibom (Uyo, Upenekang, Oron, Edor, Eket, Obianga, Etinan); Bauchi State (Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi); Bayelsa State (Letugbene); Borno State (Maiduguri); Cross River State (Ikom, Calabar, Itigidi, Akpap); Nasarawa State (Udeni, Tunga); and the Federal Capital Territory (Abaji, Bwari).
Others are Jigawa State (Miga, Ringim, Dutse, Hadejia); Kano State (Gezawa, Gwarzo, Kano, Karaye, Wudil, Sumaila); Kebbi State (Gwandu, Jega, Kangiwa, Gauri-Banza, Ribah, Sakaba, Saminaka, Kamba, Birnin Kebbi, Bunza, Argungu, Bagudo); Katsina State (Bindawa, Jibia, Kaita, Katsina, Daura, Funtua); Kwara State (Kosubosu); Niger State (Ibi, Bida, Kontagora, Mashegu, Minna, New Bussa, Katcha, Rijau, Wushishi); Plateau State (Jos, Mangu); Rivers State (Port-Harcourt, Onne, Okrika, Bori); Sokoto State (Makira, Goronyo, Isa, Silame, Sokoto, Wamako); Taraba State (Gembu, Beli, Garkowa, Gasol, Serti, Donga, Duchi, Gwarzo, Gun gun Bodel); Yobe State (Gashua, Gasma, Damaturu, Geidam, Kanama); and Zamfara State (Kaura Namoda, Maradun, Shinkafi, Bukkuyum, Majara, Gummi).
Salako, however, urged stakeholders to take proactive measures to mitigate the flooding.
On whether the Cameroonian government had notified the ministry of when it would open the Lagdo Dam, the minister said the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation was in charge of dam management.
“If there’s going to be any issue around the Lagdo Dam, they will inform the Ministry of Water Resources and Sanitation, but I’m not sure they have had any information because if they have any, they usually also transmit such information to us at the federal level,” he explained.
Meanwhile, the Sokoto State government has disclosed that it is ready to manage any possible flooding across the state this year.
The Commissioner for Information, Sambo Danchadi, while speaking with one of our correspondents, said the state government, through one of the Sokoto Emergency Management Agency, was working round the clock to maintain a safe environment.
Also speaking, the Director of Relief and Rehabilitation at the Sokoto Emergency Management Agency, Mustapha Umar, said the agency had carried out sensitisation and awareness programmes in flood-prone areas.
He said, “We even had an evacuation plan, the National Emergency Management Agency asked us to submit our plan and designated areas in case of flood and we have collated that and submitted it to them already.
“We have done a lot in terms of dishing out information to the people and creating awareness for them on dangers associated with flood.”
Also, the Bayelsa State Directorate of Flood and Erosion Control said it would continue the task of clearing drains within Yenagoa and its environs to mitigate the impact of this year’s flood.
The chairman of the directorate, Walson Omuso, noted that the chairmen of the Rural Development Authorities were locating higher grounds for the erection of makeshift relief camps.
He, however, said the agency was not embarking on any fresh moves in reaction to the flood warning by the Federal Ministry of Environment, which named Bayelsa among states to be affected by flooding between now and July 20.
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