The death toll in the Niger State flooding rose to at least 150 on Saturday, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). A spokesman for the agency, Ibrahim Husseini, told AFP that the sharp increase from the previous death toll of 115 came as bodies were recovered nearly 10 kilometres (6 miles) away from the town of Mokwa, the epicentre of the floods.
A total of 3,000 persons have also been displaced, levelling more than 250 homes and washing away two bridges.
The update comes as President Bola Tinubu stated that he has directed the activation of the National Emergency Response Centre in the state.
“Some bodies were recovered from the debris of collapsed homes,” Husseini said, adding that his teams would need excavators to retrieve corpses.
He said many were still missing, citing a family of 12 where only four members had been accounted for as of Friday.
In an overnight statement, the President said his directive was necessitated by a briefing from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on the need to scale up urgent humanitarian responses to meet the needs of victims.
A report by AFP, quoting the spokesperson for NEMA, said the torrential rains late Wednesday through Thursday killed at least 115 people, adding that the toll is expected to rise further.
The rains had washed away and submerged dozens of homes in and around the town of Mokwa, located near the Niger River.
According to NEMA, bodies were swept into the river and carried downstream, complicating efforts to compile a death toll.
He assured that all those impacted by the incident would receive support from the Federal Government.
Credit: channelstv.com
