From David Onuoja, Abuja
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in coordination with other emergency response bodies, has carried out a rescue and fact finding mission to Mokwa, Niger State, at the weekend over the incident of recent flood in the state.
The Agency which intensified its efforts in tracking and rescuing victims, were there with relief materials to support the flood affected families saying, the flooding incident was devastating.
In a statement from the agency, the Director General of the agency, Mrs. Zubaida Umar, who was personally on ground to access the situation, said, on Saturday 31st May, 2025, NEMA rapid response and recovery team conducted a symbolic distribution of the relief materials to the affected persons and then handed over to the LGA, SEMA, and community leader (Sarkin Hausawa) to continue the distribution.
Speaking about the casualties, the statement revealed that, about 151 bodies have been recovered, 503 households and 264 houses have been affected, and 3,018 individuals displaced.
It added that, NEMA will closely monitor and provide support for the full recovery of all the initially admitted victims at various health centres that are now treated and discharged.
The statement also explained that the two township roads and bridges that were damaged by the flooding have impacted vehicular movement and economic activities negatively.
NEMA did not end its activities there but uses it’s mobile water purification equipment to provide potable water for domestic use of residents within the affected communities, including other hygiene measures, to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases associated with flooding disasters.
According to the Director General, “in line with the directive of President Bola Tinubu, all hands are on deck to ensure that every necessary support is provided to the town during this trying time while the situation is generally getting back to normal”, she declared.
Meanwhile, NEMA has activated National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC), a multi-stakeholder platform for monitoring flood situations, tracking data and reliable information and coordinating resource mobilization and deployment in response to the 2025 flooding across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The activation of the NEOC is part of NEMA’s strategic and proactive measures to effectively manage the 2025 flood emergency. The Centre began operations at the weekend, starting with the response to the Mokwa flooding incident.
