Despite early warnings by relevant federal agencies of imminent flooding in 2023 than previous years, Benue and Kogi states have mostly ignored mitigation strategies ahead of the impending disaster, Ijeoma OPARA, who visited the states, reports.

Read also: Flood at the Confluence: When Kogi flood victims queried FG’s sincerity on multi-billion dredging contracts

Read the complete flood series here.

MERCY Faga relocated to Makurdi from her village, Tse Ikyaan, Benue state, in January 2022 after losing some of her family members to terror attacks that plagued her community.

She moved with her only surviving family and brother, Terfa Fagar, who secured a single-room apartment at Wadata Rice Mill by River Benue.

Eight months later, parts of Makurdi got submerged in a flood that claimed many lives, including her brother’s.

“Terfa was ill and just got discharged from the hospital a week before. It was the neighbours that called to say they couldn’t find my brother. I rushed there; the door was locked from inside. I called some neighbours to help me open the door. That was how we discovered his body,” she said.

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Terfa’s death has now made Mercy the only surviving member of what used to be a large family.

The 2022 flood rendered many residents homeless, including Gabriel Yev, who lived in Wurukum, Makurdi, before the disaster.

Yev lost his home to the flood and now lives in a tent made from mosquito nets at the Internally Displaced People (IDP) camp with his wife, mother and six children who no longer attend school.

In the Confluence state of Kogi, where the Niger and Benue Rivers meet, the situation is similar. Many residents of Adankolo, Ganaja village, Ojila and other communities fell upon hard times after the flood washed away everything they owned.

The flood, the worst in over a decade, was caused by excessive rainfalls and contributions from external flows by the release of excess water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. Over 600 people died, and more than a million were displaced.

This is not the first flood incident in Nigeria linked to the Lagdo Dam. In 2012 over 400 people died hundreds of thousands were displaced due to floods caused by heavy rainfall and water from the Cameroonian dam.

According to reports, Nigeria reached an agreement with Cameroon in 1977 to build the Dasin Hausa Dam in Adamawa state, which would contain water from the Lagdo and prevent flooding. Over forty years after construction began, Nigeria is yet to complete the Dasin Hausa, leaving citizens at risk of regular flooding. Though the government denies the existence of such an agreement. Environmentalists think the dam will reduce flooding in Nigeria.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said water from the Lagdo Dam was not entirely responsible for the 2022 flood, as climate conditions played significant roles. Before the flood, there were warnings of possible disasters in 32 states and the FCT by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) and Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET).

These warnings were ignored, bringing hardship to affected residents, and NIHSA Director-General Clement Nze blamed sub-national governments for not being proactive.

Nearly a year later, many people are still devastated, including Mimi Wanev, whose son drowned in the flood that submerged North Bank, Benue.

“Till today, we are struggling. My children could not go to school. We are lucky that we found refuge in the IDP camp. That is how they went back to school. We cannot even talk about home any longer. We are homeless, roaming about in our own place,” she said in tears.

2023 flood prediction

Again, NIHSA and NIMET have predicted that Benue, Kogi and 30 other states are at high risk of flooding in 2023. Based on this, NEMA introduced the 2023 Climate-Related Disaster Preparedness and Mitigation Strategies, an early warning document with recommendations to minimise flooding.

NEMA recommended that governments should desilt major rivers, dams and establish standard drainages. Parts of the mitigation strategies include efficient sensitisation, relocation of residents in areas perennially affected by flooding, expanding and unblocking drainages and proper waste management.

However, findings by The ICIR show that the level of preparation in Kogi and Benue is low.

Blocked waterways, poor waste management

Despite how badly Benue and Kogi were affected by the 2022 flood, waste management is quite poor, as The ICIR observed that refuse dumps littered roadsides in both states.

Along Gboko Road, Makurdi, where several heaps of refuse littered the streets, The ICIR observed that there were no rural buckets for waste disposal.

Drainages had also been converted into dump sites, which seemed worse in Kogi.

Beyond the health implications of improper waste disposal, it also increases the risk of flooding, as refuse gets washed by rains into waterways, leading to clogging.

By the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) school in Ganaja village, The ICIR observed that a box culvert constructed to aid water flow was partially blocked, as the entire area had been converted into a dump site.

Many other drainage systems in Kogi were clogged with waste, even in flood-prone communities.

Inadequate awareness for rural dwellers

Rekia Abdullahi, who lives by River Benue in Makurdi, told The ICIR that her family left home to squat with relatives for two months in 2022 after their community was submerged.

She has not recovered from the previous flood, as the property destroyed are yet to be replaced. Her family is also regularly confronted by snakes and other reptiles that have found homes within the neighbourhood since the disaster.

Yet, Abdullahi said she was unaware of the impending disaster and expressed surprise when asked about her level of preparation.

“I did not know that this year would be worse. I have not heard of that. The government did not tell us anything since then. We have just been on our own,” she said.

This was the case with several other residents that spoke to The ICIR.

In Agatu, Benue state, the monarch Godwin Onah, who lost his rice farm, which he estimated to be over N200,000, to the flood, said though he was expecting another disaster, there was no sensitisation programme by the state government on the impending flood.

However, Onah reached out to The ICIR days later, saying a chief confirmed to him that there were announcements by the state over the flood.

“One of my chiefs just told me they heard the announcement on the radio in Makurdi. You know we are in the village. We don’t hear anything,” he said.

Communities in Agatu, including Oweto and Utugolugu, perennially experience flooding due to their proximity to the River Benue.

Although the residents claim that sensitisation is inadequate, many are weary of farming due to the losses caused by the 2022 flood.

The ICIR reached out to the Benue State Ministry of Water Resources and Environment over inadequate awareness and poor waste management. The Information Officer of the Ministry Enokela Sule Onum, said efforts had been made to inform residents in affected areas of the predicted flood.

“Over the radio, we keep sending warnings. I think we have sent it three times since last year. Every year, we keep sending. NIMET gives us the prediction, and the moment we receive this, we release a statement. This year, I sent to three radio stations. That was on the 28th of February this year.”

“Benue has three zones, and each of these zones have a major radio station. When we visited Zone C, we used Joy FM, the dominant radio station there. In Makurdi, we used Radio Benue. We use Ashiwaves to cover the side of Zone A; two radio stations in Makurdi,” Onum said.

He blamed what he described as the human factor for residents’ ignorance, adding that some fishermen ignore warnings, hoping that the flood might lead to a bountiful harvest.

Although The ICIR observed many clogged gutters, Onum said the Ministry carried out desilting exercises on drainages and waterways in the past year.

He said many residents do not comply with proper waste disposal methods. However, Onum also said efforts by the Ministry may not yield desired results until the Benue River is dredged.

In Kogi, some residents of Lokoja, the state capital, said they received warning messages on the impending flood via television and radio stations. But those tucked in remote areas such as Ibaji said they did not. 

On Thursday, June 30, a local government official in Ibaji Onalo Achimugu called The ICIR to verify if there would be a repeat of the 2022 flooding. The response was affirmative, and The ICIR shared the 2023 flood predictions by NIHSA.

Meanwhile, speaking to The ICIR, Sani Yusuf, who lives by the Niger in Adankolo, Lokoja, said he was aware of the 2023 flood prediction.

“Last year, the flood was very bad. This year, they are telling us that another one more than last year is coming. We are hearing it from the news and even the radio,” he said.

In Lokon-Goma, Lokoja, a trader Aisha Mohammed also said she learnt of the impending flood through her transistor radio.

However, residents of Ganaja village, a community under the Ajaokuta LGA, say they were unaware of the flood predictions.

“We have not heard anything like that. I’m not aware that we are expected to relocate this year,” a resident Kamilu Shuaibu told The ICIR, an indication that people in rural areas of both states are less informed than those in the towns.

While sensitisation in both states is quite low, those aware of the impending disaster are barely making efforts to leave flood-prone areas, as they have nowhere else to go.

Residents remain in flood-prone areas

Although NEMA recommended that governments relocate inhabitants of communities perennially affected by the flood, residents, most of whom are poor, have been left to their own means, and continue to live in these areas.

The Agatu monarch, Onah, said relocation from flood-prone areas was a major challenge facing his subjects.

“The movement of the people is my major headache now. We have tried to educate them; some say they have nowhere to go,” Onah said.

He said the state had not shown adequate commitment to the people but expressed optimism that with the change of government, there would be some assistance.

Similarly, Benjamin Ochohepo, who resides in Wadata, Markudi, said he did not receive any help from the government after the 2022 flood that left him stranded.

“I packed from that house with my mother, my nine children and siblings. We were sleeping in the church for almost three months. Up till now, the government did not come to my aid. Whether they gave palliatives, we don’t know.”

“Till now, there is no campaign from the SEMA or the federal government,” he said.

The District Head of Ankpa/Wadata in Markudi, Samuel Asema, also said he was not aware of any plans by the state to relocate residents of his community ahead of the flood.

“I am not aware of the government’s planned support in terms of relocation. No. Many people have died, their houses destroyed. It is only God that helped them,” he said.

In Adankolo, Kogi, the story is the same.

“Last year, the government didn’t show up, but some NGOs came here and helped people with roofing sheets, cement, things like that,” a resident Ojochide Daniel told The ICIR.

Daniel is aware of a possible reoccurrence of the previous year’s disaster. But she said she had no relocation plans, as she could not afford it.

Ibaji Local Government Chairman Williams Iko-Ojo Obiora confirmed to The ICIR that there was barely any assistance from the government following the 2022 flood. He also called for the dredging of the Niger River.

“The major problem we have is the dredging of River Niger, because the Niger has been so shallow that a little flood will spread everywhere. Nigeria should build more dams and carry out proper dredging. That is the only solution that can take us out of this mess,” he said.

Drama around dredging of River Niger and Benue

It is not the first time stakeholders in the environment sector would be calling for the need to dredge Rivers Niger and Benue, and it has often been presented as a lasting solution to the perennial flooding in both states.

The ICIR reported that the Umar Musa yar’Adua administration awarded N36b for the dredging of the Niger River. The contract was awarded to Messrs Fung Tai Nigeria, Dredging International; William Boyd; and Van Oord.

Several years after, while defending the 2017 budget, then Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi said the federal government has awarded a contract to dredge the Benue River.

He, however later said that N100m will be used for dredging the Niger River.

“People are wondering how on earth we are going to dredge the River Niger for N100m when the previous government awarded the same contract for N47 billion?”

“But we are going to dredge the River Niger, using dredgers owned by the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA. NIWA has dredgers, but the previous government preferred to give contractors money to dredge the river with private dredgers while NIWA’s dredgers were lying idle somewhere in Port Harcourt.”

“I told the NIWA MD that I will look for money to fuel their dredgers, and work has started. That is why we are dredging the River Niger with just N100 million,” Amaechi said.

But stakeholders, including the Nigerian Indigenous Ship-Owners Association (NISA), are doubtful that the exercise was carried out.

In March, the then Minister for Water Resources Suleiman Adamu said though the process for dredging both rivers had been initiated, it would take a long time to achieve.

Managing Director of Hydroelectric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) Abubakar Yelwa also said in May that dredging will be difficult without the intervention of foreign donors due to the financial implication.

Proposed projects for flood control ignored

The budget performance reports for flood control in Kogi and Benue states have been significantly low, despite the pressing need to prioritise mitigation.

According to the Budget Performance Report  (archived here)for the first quarter of 2023, N101m was budgeted for erosion and flood control in Kogi state. The report showed that a total of N36.9m was budgeted for post-flood housing estates and social amenities and N53.8m for procurement of emergency tender for flood-related disasters.

Also, N10m was budgeted to relocate communities in flood-prone areas. However, no money was spent on these mitigation measures.

The Budget Performance Report for the four quarters in 2022 also show that out of N106.3m, only N4m was spent on erosion and flood control in Kogi.

The ICIR visited the Kogi State Ministry of Environment on plans being made ahead of the predicted flood.

The Information Officer, Mariam Adams, was not available at the time of the visit. During subsequent phone conversations, she did not respond to questions on the Ministry’s plans to mitigate the impending flood but directed The ICIR to the State’s Emergency Management Agency.

Similarly, N896.9m was budgeted for erosion and flood control in Benue, but no money has been spent on this, according to the Benue State Budget Performance Report (archived here) for the first quarter of 2023.

Speaking on the issue on May 23, Information Officer, Benue State Ministry of Water Resources and Environment Enokale Onum said the state had not received funds for 2023’s budget.

“The budget for this year, as far as I am concerned, has not come. But with the new government, maybe erosion control will become the major concern,” he said.

Onum further said residents of flood-prone areas are not being relocated due to paucity of funds, adding that the state was already overwhelmed by the presence of so many IDPs due to insecurity.

Koton-Karfe residents resort to self-help

It is a different situation in Koton-Karfe, a town in the Kogi LGA, where the 2022 flood also wreaked havoc.

The effect was felt not only by residents of the community but Nigerians in other states, as the traffic gridlock caused by the flood led to fuel scarcity in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and neighbouring states. The flood blocked the highway leading to the FCT, restricting the movement of fuel transporters.

National President Koton-Karfe Descendants Association Abdulkareem Shuaibu confirmed that the community was aware of another impending flood disaster, and while there has been minimal support from the state, residents were doing their best to stay prepared.

“We have been hearing from the radio; we read newspapers; we have heard that this year’s flood is likely to be more than that of last year.”

“So far, we don’t want to be caught napping this time. His Royal Majesty, as a way of mitigating against this thing, set up a committee of which I am a member. The committee is saddled with the responsibility of preparing towards cases of emergency as a result of this flood,” Shuaibu said.

He noted that the community had secured highlands in neighbouring areas where residents will relocate in the event of another flood.

“We have a hilly place in Adangiri. If it happens, we’ll move them to that side. We have another one at Okpaka here; there are four to five places that have been designated in case it happens,” he said.

However, Shuaibu noted that funding was a significant challenge in making designated areas habitable for residents.

“It is one thing to secure a place; it is another to maintain it. Our challenge is that we cannot have an ordinary camp. What of the tents, drinking water, and health facilities?

“It is not palliatives we need. We are calling on the government to please come to our aid. There is an extent to which we can go alone as a community. Let us have preventive measures instead of waiting for when it happens to give out palliatives. Enough of palliatives,” Shuaibu stated.

He added that the community had written letters to both the federal and state government with minimal response. He, however, noted that HYPPADEC had commenced some projects in the area.

Shuaibu commended HYPPADEC for the expansion of waterways in the area, which was ongoing during the time of The ICIR’s visit.

Until Kogi and Benue governments fully adhere to recommendations by relevant agencies, residents remain at risk of losing lives and properties in the impending disaster.