Flash floods that ravaged two communities in Mokwa Local Government Area of Niger State have killed 115 people, an emergency services official has reported, saying the toll might go higher.
Motorists are currently stranded as part of the bridge at Mokwa linking the North and Southwestern part of the country collapsed due to the flooding.
It was when the flood subsided that it was noticed that the bridge had collapsed.
One of the motorists, Awual Mohammed, told NAN that many motorists have been stranded since Thursday on both sides of the bridge, which made it impossible for motorists to continue with their journey.
“If the bridge is not fixed immediately, it will disrupt trade activities between the North and Southwest regions,” he said.
He called on the authorities to urgently repair the bridge and provide alternative solutions to mitigate the impact of future floods.
The downpours lasted for several hours, said the head of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (Nsema), Abullahi Baba-Arah.
“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, Niger SEMA spokesman told AFP on Friday.
“Downstream, bodies are still being recovered. So, the toll keeps rising.”
Flooding after torrential rains late on Wednesday washed away more than 50 homes in the city of Mokwa in central Niger, drowning residents with many missing, according to the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
Teams of rescuers continued to search for missing residents on Friday.
“We expect the toll to rise considerably because there are different rescuers at different locations,” Husseini said.
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.
According to Nsema, the Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa districts of Mokwa were worst affected.
Mokwa’s District Head, Muhammad Shaba Aliyu, said it has been “60 years” since the community had suffered this kind of flooding.
“I beg the government to support us,” Mr Aliyu said.
The search and rescue operation is still ongoing and many more people are still at risk, authorities say.
A local fisherman told the AFP news agency that he had been left homeless.
“I don’t have a house to sleep in. My house has already collapsed,” Danjuma Shaba said.
Nigeria often experiences flooding during the rainy season, which usually lasts from April to October.
The authorities have warned of heavy downpours in at least 15 of the country’s 36 states.
Last year, many parts of northern Nigeria experienced heavy rainfall and flooding which caused deaths, displacement of people and destruction of houses and infrastructure.
The country also suffered severe flooding in 2022, which forced around 1.3 million people out of the homes and caused more than 600 deaths.
