Niger flooding: Tinubu orders emergency response activation as death toll rises above 100
Emma Ogbueh with Agency Reports
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the immediate activation of the National Emergency Response Centre following the devastating floods in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State, which have claimed over 100 lives and displaced numerous families. The directive was issued early Saturday after the President received distressing reports on the scale of the disaster.
n a statement on his verified X (formerly Twitter) handle, @officialABAT, President Tinubu expressed profound grief over the incident and promised a swift and compassionate federal response to support the affected communities.
“Upon receiving initial reports, I immediately directed the activation of the National Emergency Response Centre. I have also been briefed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the scale of the disaster and the urgent humanitarian needs,” the President said.
The President confirmed that relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed to the disaster zone without delay.
The measures by the President came as death toll from the disaster is estimated to have risen over 100.
No fewer than 44 of the victims were interred on Friday, following the burial of 31 others recovered earlier in the week.
The incident occurred on Wednesday night during a torrential rainfall that lasted several hours and washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the city of Mokwa.
Agency Reports indicated that teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents after torrential rains late on Wednesday washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the city of Mokwa, in Niger State.
“We have so far recovered 115 bodies and more are expected to be recovered because the flood came from far distance and washed people into the River Niger,” Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency told AFP.
“Downstream, bodies are still being recovered. So, the toll keeps rising,” he added.
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He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members have been accounted for.
“Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes,” he said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses from under the rubble.
Earlier on Friday, an official coordinating the search and rescue operation, Hussaini Isah, had given a provisional toll of 88. There were fears that the death toll could be higher, given that many corpses, especially those of Almajirai (Qur’anic school pupils), had yet to be accounted for.
The Deputy Governor of Niger State, Mr Yakubu Garba, said over 100 had been confirmed dead. Garba disclosed the casualty figure during a visit to Mokwa on Friday, adding that search and rescue operations were ongoing.
He said, “I have been briefed by officials from NEMA and NSEMA, who have been on ground since the incident occurred for search and rescue operations. I was told that over 100 people lost their lives and some have yet to be buried as search and rescue operations are still ongoing.”
Garba, while addressing survivors at the Internally Displaced Persons camp, urged them to exercise patience as the state government was working out modalities to provide relief materials to those affected.
He said the state government had received materials from NEMA, which had been handed over to the council chairman for onward distribution to the victims.
Also speaking, the Director-General of NEMA, Mrs Zubaida Umar, said officials of the agency were on the ground coordinating the search and rescue operations.
One of the victims, Anas Usman, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that 17 members of his household lost their lives to the disaster.
“We were preparing to go to the farm in the morning when our house was suddenly submerged by floods; we did not know where the flood came from.
“The flood submerged our house, causing the structure to collapse. We lost children, women and men, who are family members,” he said.
The DG of NSEMA, Baba-Arah, while speaking on the number of corpses recovered and those still missing, said the torrential rainfall that led to the flood lasted for hours.
He explained that surging waters submerged and swept away more than 50 residential buildings and their occupants.
Baba-Arah said, “NSEMA received a report of a deadly flood disaster that ravaged two communities, Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa, in Mokwa town, Mokwa LGA.
“In response, the agency, in collaboration with Mokwa local government authorities, local divers, and brave volunteers, launched a search and rescue operation to save lives and recover the dead.
