The Lagdo Dam in Cameroon, which when opened causes heavily flooding in Nigeria as it did last year, is about to be reopened. The Federal Government is already warning Nigerians to evacuate from flood-prone areas to safe grounds so as to forestall the disaster that befell the country in 2022. Some of the states that will bear the brunt of the dam reopening are Adamawa, Anambra, Bayelsa, Benue, Delta, Edo, Kogi, Taraba and Nasarawa.

The advisory includes state governments in the frontline states taking mitigating measures to avoid a repeat of the catastrophe of 2022. Dr Betta Edu, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, while issuing flood warning alert at a meeting of Presidential Committee on coordination and implementation in Abuja, said the call became necessary following an alert by Cameroonian authorities on the release of water from the country’s Lagdo Dam.

“State Governments have done quite a number of preparedness, we also appeal to the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) on the need to step up actions by ensuring immediate evacuation of Nigerians from various communities to safer destinations. Lagdo Dam floodgate has been opened by the Cameroonian authorities and all the frontline states may experience flooding within the next seven days,” she said.

Also, the Minister of Environment, Dr Iziaq Salako said his ministry has already activated the necessary flood warning alerts being released on hourly basis. “Especially on the water level of River Benue and River Niger as well as vulnerability level of the affected areas,” he added. Information sharing, said Salako, will be continuous, and widely disseminated.

Cameroonian authorities said they will open the dam “in days ahead, due to heavy rainfall around the dam catchment area in the northern part of the country”. In an August 21 letter sent to the Director General of Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Cameroon warned that “it is pertinent to note that when the release of water becomes necessary, the authorities of Lagdo Dam will be releasing on modulated variable small amount of water at a time. This is with a view to mitigate and avoid damages that the released water may cause along the River Benue basin both Cameroon and in Nigeria”.

In horror-movie like scenes, the 2022 flooding was devastating, causing deaths, destruction and humanitarian crises in its wake. Nigeria was unprepared for the floods, despite reported repeated warnings from Cameroon. According to its own data, the government of the day said the flood displaced over 1.4 million people, killed over 603 people, and injured more than 2,400 persons. Over 82,000 houses were damaged, and 332,327 hectares were of land were affected. The fatalities are believed to be a lot higher and destruction of property a gross underestimation.

Nassarawa and Bayelsa states were the worst hit. Delta, Anambra, Edo among many others also experienced the worst of the floods.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.