The death toll from widespread floods in central Nigeria rose to at least 111 people on Friday.After torrential rains earlier in the week, flood waters have swept away more than 50 homes in the market town of Mokwa in the central Niger state.Ibrahim Audu Husseini, spokesperson for the Niger State emergency agency told the Associated Press that “more bodies have just been brought and are yet to be counted, but we have at least 111 confirmed already.”Earlier in the day, Husseini, told AFP he “expected the toll to rise considerably because there are different rescuers at different locations.”The head of the operations office in the Niger state capital Minna, Husseini Isah, said rescue efforts were still ongoing on Friday.
Why is flooding so dangerous in Nigeria?
Mokwa is a key local hub for traders from the south of the country and farmers from the north. It is located around 220 kilometers (140 miles) west of the capital Abuja.The flooding was triggered by several hours of heavy rain, with the collapse of a nearby damn exacerbating the situation.Nigeria’s Meteorological Agency warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria’s 36 states, including Niger State, between Wednesday and Friday.Nigeria’s rainy season has only just started and normally lasts around six months.The annual occurrence regularly kills hundreds of people. A lack of drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels all make the flooding worse.Nigeria suffered one of its worst disasters in decades in 2024, with flooding killing more than 1,200 people and displacing another 1.2 million.The flooding, which impacted 31 of the country’s 36 states, also destroyed more than 1.4 million hectares (3.5 million acres) of farmland.
