Mokwa Flood: Why it Happened

Laleye Dipo writes on why the devastating Mokwa flood happened and the steps being taken to ameliorate the sufferings of the victims

It is no longer news that flood ravaged three communities—Tiffin Maza, Angwa Hausawa, and Raba—in Mokwa town of Niger State on Wednesday, 28 May 2025.

Officially, the flood has been attributed to eight hours of heavy rainfall, making the incident a natural occurrence. However, some elderly people in the town have disputed the claim, with many of those spoken to believing that the incident had some spirituality attached to it.

They claimed that some of them have been living in the affected areas for over 50 years without such a disaster occurring, despite heavier rains pounding the area during that period.

“We have been living in this area for about 50 years. There have been more heavy rains than this, yet nothing like this has ever happened,” one of the elderly people said.

Another, corroborating the submission, rhetorically asked, “Can you show me where this type of water came from?”

A younger person believes that the floodwater came from Mashegu Local Government, which is adjacent to Mokwa and has many rivers, including the River Niger at Kainji.

The Chairman of Mokwa Local Government, Alhaji Mohammed Jibrin Muregi, blamed the magnitude of the flood on congestion in the affected communities.

No matter what caused the flood, the disaster that accompanied it was of unimaginable proportion. Human lives, infrastructure, and animals were lost. It is difficult to believe that houses, bridges, trees, etc., ever existed in the affected communities. Even war-ravaged areas often leave more behind than the situation in which these communities now find themselves. In some instances, only the roofs of buildings could be seen covering the ground; in other cases, both roofs and blocks were washed away.

Where the flood carried more than fifty houses to is still unknown.

Though there are conflicting figures about the number of lives lost, the statistics by the Niger State Emergency Management Agency (NSEMA) remain the authentic figures, as the officials of the organisation have been on the ground since the incident occurred.

At first, NSEMA announced 21 people dead, but the figure increased by the day as search and rescue operations continued.

The figure of 161 casualties as of Thursday last week is, however, what the state government is relying on, which led it to advise against the “spreading of unverified or misleading information.”

However, nobody—not even the government agencies in charge of the search and rescue operations—has provided statistics on the number of cattle, sheep, goats, and other animals lost to this catastrophe. A total of 3,018 people are also displaced, with 11 people still missing, according to figures released by NSEMA.

NSEMA also said most of those who lost their lives were children, some of whom were buried under the debris of collapsed buildings.

Abdullahi Baba Arah, the Director General of NSEMA, said, “We have to dig through debris to bring out some corpses; some bodies were hooked between trees.”

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Abubakar Usman, in a statement urged the people “to remain calm and prayerful in this moment of collective grief,” adding that people should avoid spreading “unverified or misleading information that may further deepen sorrow, incite panic, or cause unnecessary confusion within our communities.”

Among those who lost their lives were 12 family members who were washed away in their sleep. Also, an Islamic teacher in the area reportedly, but unusually, directed all his almajiris to return home on Tuesday night and go to bed—only for all the children, whose number is not known, to be flooded. Many of their corpses are yet to be found.

Reactions to the sad incident were swift, with the NSEMA and NEMA officials among the first set of government agencies to land in Mokwa to render assistance to the victims. Local divers from Mashegu and Jebba also came in to help with the search and rescue operations.

For the first two days, motorists had a Herculean task traversing between Mokwa and other parts of the country. Mokwa is the main artery that connects all north-western states—in fact, the northern states—since the construction of the Suleja–Lokoja road has not been completed.

The attention given to the disaster did not escape the Federal Government, which, through Vice President Kashim Shettima, lauded those who showed solidarity, describing them as “their brothers’ keepers.”

The Mokwa Local Government hurriedly set up an emergency Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp, where the Chairman of the Council, Alhaji Mohammed Jibrin Muregi, claimed 5,000 displaced people were being cared for.

Muregi, who described the incident as “saddening, heartbreaking and pathetic, especially with the resultant loss of many lives and property,” said the council had purchased essential drugs, food items, mats, and mosquito nets for distribution to the displaced people.

The state government has opened a special bank account into which all donations for the displaced people and the rebuilding of the destroyed communities should be deposited.

The State Deputy Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, warned against fraudsters taking advantage of the present situation to exploit already suffering people.

“While the State Government is appealing for corporate, individual and non-governmental organisation support, on no condition should such assistance be channelled through privately owned accounts,” Garba declared,

adding that those willing to contribute towards bringing succour to the flood disaster victims should contact the relevant state agencies for proper guidance.

“As a state, we have opened a dedicated account for this disaster; every support should be channelled to it.”

Assistance in cash and kind has continued to pour in for the victims, with the Federal Government doling out ₦2 billion for the reconstruction of the damaged communities, in addition to releasing 20 trucks of food items.

Vice President Kashim Shettima, who announced the donations on behalf of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, also said the drainages in the town would be reconstructed, while an electricity transformer would be delivered to replace the damaged one.

Niger State Governor’s wife, Hajia Fatima Bago, on behalf of herself and her children, donated ₦50 million to the fund. So did Niger East Senator, Alhaji Mohammed Sani Musa. The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi, gave ₦20 million, while the Senator representing the area (Niger South), Senator Peter Nda Alikali, donated ₦2 million. A leading commercial bank in the country, Fidelity Bank, donated 1,000 5kg bags of rice.

The disaster took the shine off the celebration of this year’s Eid el-Kabir festival, as the government directed that the festival should be held in a low-key manner in memory of those who lost their lives and those injured.

As a result, there was no funfair or durbar that usually accompanies the festival.

What Next?

The people of Mokwa are expectant that all the promises made by governments and individuals will be fulfilled to bring a little succour to them.

Chairman of the council, Alhaji Muregi, has to implement his plan to review the master plan of the town to avoid congestion when reconstruction begins.

The displaced people, however, are still waiting to be touched by both the state and federal governments.

As Vice President Kashim Shettima said, the responsibility is a tripartite one: the Federal Government will play its part, the State Government should play its part, while the Local Government too has a role to play.

The displaced people—and indeed the entire Mokwa town—should not be left to their fate after the cacophony has died down.

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The people of Mokwa are expectant that all the promises made by governments and individuals will be fulfilled to bring a little succour to them…The displaced people—and indeed the entire Mokwa town—should not be left to their fate after the cacophony has died down