States along River Benue were on Wednesday asked by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), to evacuate residents in flood-prone areas due to the opening of Lagdo dam in Cameroon.
Mustapha Ahmed, Director-General of NEMA, made this call during the national emergency coordination forum meeting, in Abuja.
Ahmed Said Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, and Anambra States could be flooded due to the release of water from the dam, adding that other states at risk of being flooded were Enugu, Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa.
He said the meeting was held following the alert received by the ministry of foreign affairs concerning the planned release of water from the Cameroon dam.
Cameroon, he added, had opened the dam at the rate of 200 cubic meters per second, poniting out that the level was about 18 million cubic meters of water daily.
Said Ahmad: “The states on the downstream of River Benue are Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Anambra, Enugu, Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa states.
“Information available from the flow level of the River Benue at Nigerian Hydrological Service Agency (NIHSA) gauging station at Makurdi stood at 8.97 meters as of August 25, 2023 compared to 8.80 meters on the same date in 2022.
“Also, NIHSA has provided that the flow level of the River Niger system, especially at Niamey, Niger Republic, remains stable at a normal level of 4.30 meters.
“Similarly, inland dams including Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro reported consistent flow regimes”.
The NEMA boss called on stakeholders to commence evacuation immediately, adding that the government would continue to work with other partners to mitigate the impact.
