Floods in Niger: Hundreds Die After Torrential Rains in Mokwa

At least 200 people have died after deadly floods hit the central Niger town of Mokwa on Thursday. Thousands have also been displaced and officials place the missing count at 500. Musa Kimboku told the BBC that rescue efforts have ceased because authorities doubt that anyone can be found alive given the extent of the destruction. 

The Mokwa districts of Tiffin Maza and Anguwan Hausawa, as well as several other locations in central Niger, are flood prone. Experts have however tagged the floods of last week as the worst the region has experienced in some 60 years. 

To mitigate the extent of the disaster and begin post-flood reconstruction efforts, rescue workers are trawling through the river Niger, where bodies are believed to have been swept down. 

Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris holds that the actual death toll is much higher than the figure government officials have claimed—roughly 200—considering that around 500 people are missing, who are believed to have drowned in the River Niger. “The usual thing is when an official tells you 151 are dead or missing,” he said, “you are likely to multiply that by two, three, or four.”

The number of displaced persons currently sits at around 3000. 265 houses and two bridges have also been destroyed according to Ibrahim Audu Husseini, a spokesperson for the Niger State Emergency Management Agency. Gideon Adamu, head of the Red Cross in Niger State, told the AFP news agency on Saturday that 121 injured persons are already receiving medical attention. 

Experts have blamed the flooding on various factors including climate change, shabby drainage infrastructure, and unsanctioned construction. Some residents, however, per reports from Al Jazeera, believe that the overflowing or bursting of a dam had something to do with it. Officials have neither confirmed nor denied this. The state has three major dams – Kainji, Jebba, and Shiroro – and a fourth under construction, sothe idea is not so far-fetched.

The state governor Mohammed Umaru Bago, who was absent from the state at the time of the disaster, has come under intense criticism for soliciting donations on X to aid relief efforts just six months after a World Bank grant of $10 million intended to help prevent and manage such disasters. 

Although denizens of the state are somewhat familiar with flooding, given its prevalence in the region, the recent flooding has left them in the lurch, shaken by the extent of the damage, especially considering that it’s not yet peak rainy season, Al Jazeera’s Ahmed Idris reports.