At least 111 dead in northern Nigeria flooding

The Advertiser

31-05-2025

Torrents of pre-dawn rain have unleashed flooding that has killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south.
The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say how much rain fell after midnight Thursday in the town of Mokwa in the state of Niger more than 300km west of Abuja, the capital of Africa's most populous nation.
Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season.
In videos and photos on social media, floodwaters covered neighbourhoods and homes were submerged, with their roofs barely visible above the brown coloured waters. Waist-deep in water, residents tried to salvage what they could, or rescue others.
"We lost many lives, and the properties, our farm produce. Those that have their storage have lost it," Kazeem Muhammed, a Mokwa resident, said.
Mokwa, nearly 380km west of Abuja, is a major meeting point where traders from the south buy beans, onions and other food from farmers in the north.
Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa told the AP the villagers are not used to such flooding.
"The water is like spiritual water which used to come but it's seasonal," he said.
"It can come now (and) it will reach another twenty years before coming again."
The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue.
"This critical infrastructure is essential to mitigating future flood risks and protecting lives and property," he said.
In September, torrential rains and a dam collapse in the northeastern city of Maiduguri caused severe flooding that left at least 30 people dead and displaced millions, worsening the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.
Torrents of pre-dawn rain have unleashed flooding that has killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south.
The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say how much rain fell after midnight Thursday in the town of Mokwa in the state of Niger more than 300km west of Abuja, the capital of Africa's most populous nation.
Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season.
In videos and photos on social media, floodwaters covered neighbourhoods and homes were submerged, with their roofs barely visible above the brown coloured waters. Waist-deep in water, residents tried to salvage what they could, or rescue others.
"We lost many lives, and the properties, our farm produce. Those that have their storage have lost it," Kazeem Muhammed, a Mokwa resident, said.
Mokwa, nearly 380km west of Abuja, is a major meeting point where traders from the south buy beans, onions and other food from farmers in the north.
Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa told the AP the villagers are not used to such flooding.
"The water is like spiritual water which used to come but it's seasonal," he said.
"It can come now (and) it will reach another twenty years before coming again."
The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue.
"This critical infrastructure is essential to mitigating future flood risks and protecting lives and property," he said.
In September, torrential rains and a dam collapse in the northeastern city of Maiduguri caused severe flooding that left at least 30 people dead and displaced millions, worsening the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.
Torrents of pre-dawn rain have unleashed flooding that has killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south.
The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say how much rain fell after midnight Thursday in the town of Mokwa in the state of Niger more than 300km west of Abuja, the capital of Africa's most populous nation.
Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season.
In videos and photos on social media, floodwaters covered neighbourhoods and homes were submerged, with their roofs barely visible above the brown coloured waters. Waist-deep in water, residents tried to salvage what they could, or rescue others.
"We lost many lives, and the properties, our farm produce. Those that have their storage have lost it," Kazeem Muhammed, a Mokwa resident, said.
Mokwa, nearly 380km west of Abuja, is a major meeting point where traders from the south buy beans, onions and other food from farmers in the north.
Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa told the AP the villagers are not used to such flooding.
"The water is like spiritual water which used to come but it's seasonal," he said.
"It can come now (and) it will reach another twenty years before coming again."
The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue.
"This critical infrastructure is essential to mitigating future flood risks and protecting lives and property," he said.
In September, torrential rains and a dam collapse in the northeastern city of Maiduguri caused severe flooding that left at least 30 people dead and displaced millions, worsening the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.
Torrents of pre-dawn rain have unleashed flooding that has killed at least 111 people in a market town where northern Nigerian farmers sell their wares to traders from the south.
The Nigerian Hydrological Services Agency did not immediately say how much rain fell after midnight Thursday in the town of Mokwa in the state of Niger more than 300km west of Abuja, the capital of Africa's most populous nation.
Communities in northern Nigeria have been experiencing prolonged dry spells worsened by climate change and excessive rainfall that leads to severe flooding during the brief wet season.
In videos and photos on social media, floodwaters covered neighbourhoods and homes were submerged, with their roofs barely visible above the brown coloured waters. Waist-deep in water, residents tried to salvage what they could, or rescue others.
"We lost many lives, and the properties, our farm produce. Those that have their storage have lost it," Kazeem Muhammed, a Mokwa resident, said.
Mokwa, nearly 380km west of Abuja, is a major meeting point where traders from the south buy beans, onions and other food from farmers in the north.
Mokwa community leader Aliki Musa told the AP the villagers are not used to such flooding.
"The water is like spiritual water which used to come but it's seasonal," he said.
"It can come now (and) it will reach another twenty years before coming again."
The chairman of the Mokwa local government area, Jibril Muregi, told local news website Premium Times that construction of flood-control works was long overdue.
"This critical infrastructure is essential to mitigating future flood risks and protecting lives and property," he said.
In September, torrential rains and a dam collapse in the northeastern city of Maiduguri caused severe flooding that left at least 30 people dead and displaced millions, worsening the humanitarian crisis caused by the Boko Haram insurgency.