Flood: Relocate From River Banks, FG Urges Nigerians

The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has called on Nigerians living along the River Benue Basin to quickly locate from the river banks as increased water on the River Benue has reached the flooding level due to increased rainfall.

Director-general of NIHSA, Umar Mohammed, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, also urged those along the River Niger to move to a safe location as the management of Kainji and Jebba Dams are working to control the floodwaters.

The DG, however, called for cooperation with the Emergency Management Agencies to build the country’s resilience against flooding.

The minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Engr. Joseph Utsev had earlier alerted on the probable river flooding on rivers Niger and Benue and some of their tributaries while calling for vigilance on all ramifications and proactive measures.

Also, the federal government recently inaugurated an Inter-Ministerial Technical Committee to evaluate the state of dams nationwide.

The committee, led by the minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof Joseph Utsev, was Inaugurated with critical objectives to evaluate the physical condition of dams, assess the social and environmental implications for local communities, and develop a programme to address the challenges associated with dams in the country.