At least 88 dead as floods submerge market town in Nigeria

The tragic aftermath of severe flooding has left at least 88 people confirmed dead in Mokwa, a bustling market town in Niger State, Nigeria .

This disaster unfolded after hours of relentless rainfall on Thursday, and officials are cautioning that the death toll could climb even higher as rescue efforts are still underway.

Husseini Isah, who heads the National Emergency Management Agency ’s operations office in Minna, shared that rescue teams are actively searching for both survivors and victims in the submerged areas.

“The number keeps rising,” Isah told the Associated Press. “But at the last count, 88 bodies have been recovered.”

Mokwa is located at a vital crossroads between Nigeria’s agricultural north and its commercial south, making the impact of this disaster both a human tragedy and an economic one.

Reports indicate that roads, homes, and farmlands have been swept away, leaving many residents displaced.

According to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), at least 1,500 people have been affected by the floods in Nigeria, with around 200 displaced and nearly 50 homes destroyed. Farmlands and key infrastructure have also been damaged. More heavy rain is expected over the next 48 hours in central and southern parts of the country.

This isn’t the first time Nigeria has faced such catastrophic events. Last September, a similar situation involving heavy rains and a dam failure in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, resulted in at least 30 deaths and displaced millions.

According to a 2022 Unicef report, more than 2.5 million people in Nigeria are in need of humanitarian assistance with 60 per cent of them children. They face increased risks of waterborne diseases, drowning, and malnutrition due to severe flooding over the past decade.