Niger urges people in flood-prone areas to relocate

Niger State Governor, Abubakar Bello

FOLLOWING the recent prediction by the Meteorological Agency that flood may likely affect some states this year, the Niger State government on Tuesday advised people in its coastal communities to move to the upland to avoid being cut off by flooding.

The advice of the government followed increase in the tempo of rain in most parts of the state and the warning by the Nigerian Metrological Agency that the state was among the 26 states prone to flooding this raining season.

The government’s statement signed by the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Jonathan Vatsa, made available to journalists in Minna said the warning had become necessary because the state could not watch its people lose their lives and property as a result of the flash flood.


Noting that the government was aware of the traditional and religious attachment of the people to their ancestral homes, Vatsa said in the statement that their safety was more paramount to the administration.

The state had witnessed massive flooding as a result of heavy rains and the overflow of water from the three hydro dams at Shiroro, Jebba and Kainji which caused colossal damage to farm lands, households and loss of lives.

Vatsa said, “The Niger State government is concerned especially now that the Nigeria Metrological Agency has warned of impending flood disasters in some states which Niger State is also listed. We are calling on the people to be careful and not to allow the flood to come before taking any measure.

“We understand the attachment that some of the riverine communities have to their ancestral homes because of their vocations mostly fishing and farming but we are advising them to at least move away until the river banks which are free from overflow.”

Vatsa, therefore, assured the people that the government in its usual people-oriented approach would do everything within its reach to ensure that the people were not affected by the predicted flood.