The Federal Ministry of Environment’s National Flood Early Warning Systems Centre has issued a critical advisory highlighting an imminent five-day heavy rainfall forecast expected to induce flooding across 19 states and 76 specific locations nationwide. The alert encourages all relevant stakeholders and residents to promptly implement precautionary measures to mitigate potential damage.
This warning arrives amid severe flooding incidents on Tuesday in Ogun and Gombe states, with other regions—Lagos, Plateau, Anambra, and Delta among them—also grappling with flood-related disasters. The flood prediction, spanning August 5 to 9, 2025, pinpoints localities in states including Akwa-Ibom, Bauchi, Ebonyi, Cross-River, Nasarawa, Benue, Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Kano, Niger, Plateau, Taraba, Jigawa, Yobe, Zamfara, Sokoto, Borno, and Gombe.
Flooding has increasingly become a recurrent crisis in Nigeria, annually inflicting loss of lives and property. Last year alone, floods affected 31 states, causing hundreds of deaths and forcing over a million people from their homes. A stark reminder came on September 10, 2024, when the Alau Dam’s collapse in Borno State resulted in at least 150 fatalities and displaced 419,000 individuals.
The intensity of floods this year is alarming. The deadliest occurrence was traced to Mokwa in Niger State, with at least 200 casualties and thousands displaced due to heavy rainfall and dam failure. Other states like Rivers and Kwara have similarly been impacted by catastrophic floods, damaging homes, disrupting livelihoods, and saddling communities with profound socio-economic challenges.
In response, the National Economic Council granted emergency relief funds in July 2025, dispersing over N3 billion each to all states and significant amounts to federal ministries and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to bolster flood mitigation and disaster response capabilities.
NEMA’s recent dashboard report highlights that as of August, 165 persons have died, 82 remain missing, and nearly 120,000 have been affected by flooding this year. The agency emphasizes that women and children bear the brunt of these floods, with thousands displaced and farmlands destroyed.
On Tuesday, flooding severely impacted parts of Ogun and Gombe States. At Redemption City, Ogun, residents and attendees of the Redeemed Christian Church of God’s annual convention were stranded for hours due to submerged roads, with some resorting to canoe transport. Affected residents recounted being trapped indoors until the church ferried them out with special buses. In Gombe, the State Emergency Management Agency confirmed four deaths linked to floods, windstorms, and damaged homes.
Moreover, Lagos endured a devastating flash flood on Monday night, overwhelming infrastructure and leaving thousands stranded. Major commercial hubs and residential neighborhoods were under water, aggravating an already longstanding flooding conundrum fueled by poor drainage and urban planning failures.
Similarly, Delta State declared proactive measures by opening six well-equipped IDP camps and constituting a Flood Disaster Management Committee to preemptively aid vulnerable residents.
Other states including Kebbi, Bauchi, Plateau, Imo, Rivers, Katsina, Sokoto, and several more have been confronting localized flooding with varying degrees of destruction, prompting emergency relief and response initiatives.
With continuous rainfall anticipated, the government, agencies, and communities are urged to stay vigilant and act swiftly to limit the devastating consequences of Nigeria’s increasingly frequent floods. Okay.ng reports.
