The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has revealed the real cause of the devastating flood disaster that ravaged Mokwa town in Mokwa local government area of Niger State.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mrs Awoibi Joe-Ukairo, Director of Planning, Research and Statistics at NIHSA, to have attributed the Mokwa flooding to anthropogenic activities in that area.
Speaking on Arise TV News Night programme on Tuesday, Mrs Joe-Ukairo disclosed that NIHSA’s Director-General, Umar Mohammed reported this from a visit to Mokwa to assess the situation.
“We had predicted that it was going to flood in that area. In fact, we have what we call the flash flood dashboard. On it, Mokwa was indicated to be at a high risk for flooding for between April to June.
“So, what we are seeing was already predicted. The alerts were there. The information was sent out like we usually would do. But, unfortunately, in this particular incident, the flooding is a result of anthropogenic activities, that is, human contributed activity in that area,” Joe-Ukairo said.
While commiserating with victims of the Mokwa flood disaster, the NIHSA Director said, “We are saddened by the incident. As much as we make our predictions, we really do not want to see the fatalities that take place as a result of the event”.
Speaking further, she said, “There was a construction work that took place in that area and there is this River Dingi, a tributary to River Niger.
“When this construction took place, it blocked the water flow path to the major River Niger and over time built up ponds of water in that location.
“A temporary embankment was made and you know how water is, it will always find its way and take its course.
“So, when this rain started on Wednesday, it was intense and went on for a longer time. The embankment soaked up water and gave way.
“Because this construction had gone on there, it stopped the flow to the other side, which became like a reclaimed land and people went to build houses there.
“The river was a seasonal river. So, people felt it was okay to live there and that is why you are seeing the high number of fatalities. People began to inhabit the place. A lot of people.
“This is really a saddening situation for us. As much as we predict, we hope that people will heed to the predictions and take precautions so that we do not have what we have now”.
The NIHSA Director added: “Prediction is also a mitigation measure. That is why we come out earlier in the year before the rain starts.
“In the past, we will predict for the State and for the local government, but this year’s annual flood outlook, we predicted down to the communities.
“That is why you can see that we picked up this particular community as a high risk vulnerable community that is going to be impacted by flood. We have the high risk areas and the moderate areas. Mokwa was on high risk.
TNG reports over 1,200 communities are at high risk, more than 2,000 are at moderate risk and cities like Abuja and Lagos have been flagged, according to the annual flood outlook.
Mokwa flood: 7 more bodies recovered
Meanwhile, the Niger State Government has announced the recovery of additional seven bodies from the flood disaster in Mokwa, bringing the number of casualties to 160.
This is contained in a statement on Tuesday in Minna by the Secretary to the State Government, Abubakar Usman.
According to Usman, four of the bodies were recovered on Monday and one body was recovered in the early hours of Tuesday, while two more bodies were recovered on Tuesday in the ongoing search efforts.
He said the recovered bodies had since been buried.
“This development brings the total number of confirmed fatalities from the flood to 160.
“The State Government wishes to appeal to residents and the general public to remain calm and prayerful in this moment of collective grief.
“We urge everyone to avoid spreading unverified or misleading information that may further deepen sorrow, incite panic, or cause unnecessary confusion within our communities.
“While we continue to mourn the lives lost, the government remains committed to providing the necessary support to affected families and intensifying rescue and relief efforts where needed,” the statement added.