Abuja (Core Reporters) The federal government has warned Nigerians living within the floodplains to relocate as a matter of urgency, adding that water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroon has been released to the River Niger and Benue .
This, according to Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) that gave the announcement on behalf the government will enable the relocate to safe spaces in anticipation of attendant floods that annually come with the release of water from the Lagdo Dam.
NIHSA Director-General, Umar Mohammed, issued this warning when he featured on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief breakfast programme on Thursday.
Mohammed said his Agency met with the authorities in Cameroon and agreed that water from the Lagdo Dam be released “intermittently” for the River Benue and River Niger in Nigeria to be able to contain the volume of water to avoid flooding in 11 states at risk.
“The situation is that water from Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam has been released already since yesterday (Wednesday) and there is an agreement that the water should be released in phases,” said Mohammed, who was represented on the programme by the Agency’s Director of Operations and Hydrology, Femi Bejide.
On Tuesday, the Federal Government alerted Nigerians to the plan by the Cameroonian authorities to release water from the Lagdo Dam.
NIHSA listed flood-prone states to include Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, and Rivers.
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