More than 150 deaths due to flooding in Nigeria

At least 151 civilians died due to flooding after heavy rainfall in western Nigeria. International press agencies report this based on local emergency services. More than 3,000 people have become displaced.

The floods have mainly hit the city of Mokwa, which is about 300 kilometers west of Abuja, the capital of the country. The floods destroyed parts of Mokwa – which has about two hundred and fifty thousand inhabitants – on Thursday morning, when many residents were still sleeping. At least five hundred households were hit by the rainfall. Roofs were hardly visible and people stood in their waist in the water, according to a spokesperson for the emergency aid service of the state of Niger, where Mokwa lies.

According to Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, search and rescue operations have been set up. « Auxiliary materials and temporary accommodation are made available immediately. We will ensure that no Nigerian who has been affected by this disaster remains or goes unnoticed, » Tinubu said.

Nigeria is more often plagued by flooding. Last year more than 200 people died in the same region and hundreds of thousands became displaced. In 2022 the area was hit by the largest floods in more than ten years. In addition, more than 600 people were killed throughout Nigeria and more than a million Nigerians were displaced. Communities in the north of the country are struggling with long -term periods of drought, exacerbated by climate change and excessive rainfall. The latter increasingly leads to serious floods.

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