Rescue operations under way after Nigeria flooding kills at least 115

Bola Ahmed Tinubu (left) delivers a speech during the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the creation of the Economic Community of West African States at the Eko Hotel in Lagos on May 28. Photo / AFP

Search-and-rescue operations continued in Nigeria today after flash flooding in the central west killed at least 115 people, President Bola Tinubu said, as officials warned the toll was expected to rise.

Torrential rains late on Wednesday through early Thursday local time washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the town of Mokwa, located near the Niger River.

Bodies were swept into the river and carried downstream, complicating efforts to compile a death toll, Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesman for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, told AFP.

Tinubu, in an overnight post on social media, said security forces were being sent to help first responders, while “relief materials and temporary shelter assistance are being deployed without delay”.

Buildings collapsed and roads were inundated in the town, located more than 350km by road from the capital Abuja, an AFP journalist in Mokwa observed yesterday.

Emergency services and residents searched through the rubble as floodwaters flowed alongside.

“Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes,” Husseini said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses.

He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members had been accounted for as of yesterday.

Mohammed Tanko, 29, a civil servant, pointed to a house he grew up in, telling reporters: “We lost at least 15 from this house. The property [is] gone. We lost everything.”

The National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) said the Nigerian Red Cross, local volunteers, the military and police were all assisting in the response.

Changing climate

Nigeria’s rainy season, which usually lasts six months, is just getting started for the year.

Flooding, usually caused by heavy rains and poor infrastructure, wreaks havoc every year, killing hundreds of people across the West African country.

Scientists have also warned that climate change is fuelling more extreme weather patterns.

In Nigeria, the floods are exacerbated by inadequate drainage, the construction of homes on waterways and the dumping of waste in drains and water channels.

“This tragic incident serves as a timely reminder of the dangers associated with building on waterways and the critical importance of keeping drainage channels and river paths clear,” Nema said in a statement.

At least 78 people have been hospitalised with injuries, the Red Cross chief for the state, Gideon Adamu, told AFP.

According to the Daily Trust newspaper, thousands of people have been displaced and more than 50 children in an Islamic school were reported missing.

Warning sounded

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency had warned of possible flash floods in 15 of Nigeria’s 36 states, including Niger state, between Wednesday and Friday local time.

In 2024, more than 1200 people were killed and 1.2 million displaced in at least 31 out of Nigeria’s 36 states, making it one of the country’s worst flood seasons in decades, according to Nema.

Local media reported that more than 5000 people have been left homeless, while the Red Cross said two major bridges in the town were torn apart.

Displaced children played in the floodwaters yesterday, heightening the possibility of exposure to water-borne diseases, with at least two bodies lying on the ground, covered in banana leaves and printed ankara cloth.

Describing how she escaped the raging waters, Sabuwar Bala, 50, a yam vendor, told reporters: “I was only wearing my underwear, someone loaned me all I’m wearing now. I couldn’t even save my flip-flops.

“I can’t locate where my home stood because of the destruction,” she said.

- Agence France-Presse