The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has warned that states adjoining River Niger may, in the next few days, start to experience heavy floods due to the volume of water at River Niger in Niamey, Niger Republic.
The Director-General of the agency, Engr. Clement Onyeaso Nze, who raised the alarm in Abuja, listed the states to be mostly affected to include: Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Kogi, Anambra, Edo, Delta, Rivers and Bayelsa.
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Engr. Clement Nze also alerted farmers to be prepared as more farmlands would be touched by the floods, adding that the incident might spark food insecurity in the country.
He said the agency, on Wednesday, received information from the Regional Niger Basin Authority that the River Niger flood level in Niamey attained an unprecedented level of 7.02m, which poses serious danger to the country.
He said huge amount of water from River Niger was already on its way to Nigeria from Niamey, adding that it might take 14 days to arrive the country via Kebbi State.
Daily Trust had reported that floods have already hit several parts of the country severely, affecting farmlands and displacing thousands of people from their homes.
In Kebbi State, Daily Trust reports that over 500,000 hectares of farm produce estimated at over N5billion have been washed away, while thousands of people were rendered homeless.
This has heightened fears that by next year, majority of farmers in the state, particularly rice farmers, would be out of business.
