Deadly flooding in Nigerian market town kills 200

Severe flooding in the Nigerian market town of Mokwa has claimed the lives of at least 200 people, with 500 still missing, Africanews via AP reported on June 4th.

The disaster struck suddenly, as intense rains triggered flash floods that submerged roads, destroyed bridges, and swept entire homes away within hours. Authorities have halted rescue operations.

The deluge left rooftops to be barely seen above the rising waters. Fatima Kontagora, a mother of six, described her devastation: “My children and property were carried away. My own children, taken by the flood, there are four, and we’re yet to see their remains. All my property is gone, all my finances are gone; there’s nothing left for me now. Even this dress I have on was given to me by someone else. In my family alone, we lost 18 people.”

Located roughly 380 kilometres west of Abuja, Mokwa sits on the banks of the River Niger and serves as both a trading centre and a farming region. The town frequently experiences flooding during Nigeria’s wet season.

However, a combination of prolonged droughts and sudden, extreme rainfall has intensified recent disasters, leading to some of the most extreme floods the country has seen in six decades. The harshness of climate change already threatens Nigeria’s food security, with prolonged and extreme heat to make the situation worse, AP reported on May 13th.

Previously, torrential rains and a dam collapse in Maiduguri caused similar devastation. That flood killed at least 30 people, uprooted millions, and deepened an ongoing humanitarian crisis driven by the Boko Haram insurgency.

The scale of destruction in Mokwa underscores Nigeria’s increasing vulnerability to climate extremes. Poor infrastructure, deforestation, and unregulated development have all worsened the effects of natural disasters, leaving communities like Mokwa defenceless against nature’s force.

Africanews, AP