On May 28, 2025, torrential rains submerged Mokwa, a market town in Niger state, causing humanitarian crisis of monumental proportion. It resulted in the death of over 200 people while 5,000 are still missing, according to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA).
The downpour that wreaked unprecedented destruction on the commercial hub famed for produce marketing was due to climate change causing deforestation, among other factors. Three communities, Tiffin Maza, Angwan Hausawa and Raba, in Mokwa local government area, were the worst-hit, with the flooding caused by the collapse of three bridges on May 29 not only delaying but slowing rescue operations, thus escalating casualty figures.
Flooding in Nigeria has become a perennial phenomenon leading to the destruction of lives and property. In 2024 alone, flooding killed more than 1,200, injured about 2,712, and displaced 1.2 million people in the country. A previous flood, caused by the release of water from the Jebba Dam, killed 13 people and destroyed over 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) of paddy farms in Mokwa alone, amounting to the loss of billions of naira.
Floods can be caused by a myriad of complex issues, including natural and human-induced factors. Natural causes may include downpour, extreme weather events like cyclones, and dam failures. Human-induced factors include rapid urbanisation, poor spatial planning leading to construction in flood-prone areas, inadequate drainage infrastructure and improper waste management that clogs the drainage system.
The acting Director-General of NSEMA, Mallam Ibrahim Hussaini, described the Mokwa floods as unprecedented and unpredictable in intensity. He noted that though the agency was drawn to flood predictions for some parts of the market town, Mokwa was assumed to be safe, as the town is not situated directly upstream or downstream of any major dam or river.
He said: “I want to tell you that because of climate change, climate variability, and deforestation, areas that were never previously prone to flooding are now being flooded. This is why I must emphasise that the flood we experienced was neither expected nor easily predictable. This time around, we had only predicted flooding in some parts of Mokwa LGA, particularly villages downstream, as some of them share boundaries with the River Niger.”
Recalling the incidence of flooding in Mokwa, Hussaini said that the town was only disposed to experiencing flash flooding, stressing that the Governor Umar Bago administration had embarked on pro-active measures, including construction and rehabilitation of roads in the area to stave off any recurrence of flash floods.
When the town caved in to flooding; it came with a devastation that threw not only Niger state, but also the entire country into shock and grief. Though informed of annual predictions on areas prone to flooding, the May 28 floods caught both the NSEMA and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) unprepared, thus making it impossible to reduce the level of carnage caused by the downpour.
In a swift move in identifying with victims and survivours of the Mokwa flooding and the Niger state government, the federal government quickly dispatched a delegation, led by the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, to assess the extent of damage and recommend immediate remedial measures to contain the ravaging floods that had become a cynosure of global humanitarian crisis.
The minister told the Deputy Governor of Niger state, Comrade Yakubu Garba, that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was gravely concerned at the floods and had ordered necessary and available resources to address the situation and stave off further destruction arising from the flooding in the country.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Prof. Nantawe Yilwatda, who was part of the delegation, condoled with the people and government of Niger state over the incident. She assured grieving survivours of succour, as his ministry was poised to collaborate with the international community to find help within the shortest possible time for earnest intervention.
In what was described as quick remedial measures to reduce the sufferings of the people, apart from commencing repairs of the collapsed Mokwa bridge, the Tinubu administration, during a visit by Vice President Kashim Shettima to the flood-ravaged town, announced a N2 billion assistance to the victims, including 20 bags of assorted grains for distribution to the survivours of the floods.
While employing the Niger state government to judiciously use the $10 million loan facility it obtained from the World Bank in tackling gully erosion in Mokwa, we commend the prompt responses of both the federal and state governments in reducing the sufferings of flood victims as demonstrated in various donations and decisions to provider succour.
Blueprint calls on the federal executive and the legislature to review upward the Derivation and Ecological Fund that currently stands at 1.0 per cent from the Federation Account to improve funding capacity of states in tackling the dangers of erosion caused by climate change.
There is the dire need to tackle the natural and human-induced factors that are the major drivers of flooding. The relevant agencies must urgently carry out measures against floods and work hard to make flooding evitable.