Flood Alert: NEMA Calls For Immediate Evacuation Of People Residing In Affected Areas
The national Emergency Management Agency, NEMA has stressed the need for immediate evacuation of people residing in communities along the banks of River Niger and that of Benue as huge volume of water from neighboring Niger is on its way to river Niger.
This is coming as Kogi Government raised concerns over the rise of river Niger in Lokoja the state capital.
The Director General (DG) of NEMA, Muhammad Sani Sidi gave the warning in a press statement issued by the Media and Publicity Unit of the agency, Sani Datti on Saturday.
The agency said that it had received alerts of the impending flood from available information by the Republic of Niger that the present water level in the river has reached a point that may result in the flood that could be compared with the unfortunate experience of 2012.
According to the NEMA boss, “Niger Basin Authority (NBA) notified Nigeria that rainy season, which started in the Middle Niger (Burkina Faso and Niger Republic) in June, 2016, has led to a gradual rise of the level of River Niger in Niamey, Niger Republic.
This high level of water in Niger Republic is already spreading to Benin Republic, and invariably, to Nigeria.”
