The federal government has told 11 State governments to brace up for massive flooding arising the release of huge volumes of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroon. Cameroon began release of waters from the Lagdo dam since August 14, 2023.
States to be mostly affected are those States along the path of River Benue in Nigeria and River Niger from its confluence in Lokoja down to Anambra and Niger Delta States. They are to experience possible flood disasters.
Lagdo Dam, located 50 kilometers south of the city of Garoua on the Benue River, often releases huge volumes of water when overflowing and this leads to flooding in various States downstream of Nigeria.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) officials, no fewer than 11 States including Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Anambra, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Cross River are likely to feel the negative impacts of the opening of the dam.
To prevent deaths and other disasters associated with floods, States that are likely to be affected have asked residents of the flood-prone areas to vacate such communities and move some of their moveable valuable assets to safer grounds. The States are being advised to demolish structures on waterways and earmark some schools to serve as possible Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.
Director-General of the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Clement Nze, stated that Cameroon started releasing water from the dam before it wrote the letter to Nigeria.
According to Nze: “Yes, that letter was signed on August 21, 2023 by the African Affairs officer at the Foreign Affairs Ministry here in Nigeria. I got in contact with the Manager of the dam last Wednesday and he confirmed that they opened the dam on August 14, 2023, at 10.10 am. He said they had been spilling water at the rate of 200 cubic metres per second, which is about 20 million cubic meters per day.
“So the letter to the Foreign Affairs Ministry is just to officially state it, but they have been releasing water before issuing that letter. They also confirmed to me on Friday that because of the huge volume they have released downstream, they decided to reduce it to 50 cubic meters per second, which is about five million cubic meters per day.”
Meanwhile, Nze explained that the flow of the water from the dam had nothing to do with THE States of Niger, Kwara and Kebbi, “but after reaching River Niger, it will start moving down to Edo, Delta, Anambra and then to Rivers, Bayelsa, before it enters the Atlantic Ocean.”
NEMA Head of Media and Public Relations, Ezekiel Manzo, said the agency had informed the State Governors, adding that the States had been advised on what to do to mitigate the impact of possible floods.
“We have introduced this into all our awareness programmes and in addition to that, NEMA has written to all the governors to alert them. We have also mentioned the things that they need to do in order to mitigate the impact of the flood.
“So what this means is that with this information concerning the excess water being released from the dam, it means that all the state governments along the River Benue axis, the time has come for them to match action with the information that has been given to them in anticipation of this flood.
“And some of the things they need to do is for them to immediately monitor the people and communities along the flood pathway and begin to move them away from danger.
“They (Lagdo Dam) are just beginning the release of the water, we don’t know, but if the rain increases and the release of the water continues, it means the people will need to move quickly out of the floodplain.”
Manzo, however, stated that ‘if after this initial release we do not have much rain again, then it means they are going to stop. I’m saying this because we don’t want to send people panicking that the release means that they should run away completely from the river bank.
“But what we are saying is that the time has come for the people to be conscious of the risk that is lying beside them in terms of the likelihood that the river will overflow its bank.”
Director of African Affairs, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Umar Salisu, said in a letter dated August 21, 2023, that the Ministry received a note from the High Commission of Cameroon as regards the opening of the dam.
The letter, which was addressed to the National Emergency Management Agency, read in part, “I have the honour to inform that the ministry is in receipt of a Note Verbale from the High Commission of the Republic of Cameroon informing that Cameroonian officials have resolved to open the flood gates of the Lagdo Dam on the Benue River in days ahead due to the heavy rainfall around the dam catchment area in Northern Cameroon.”
The letter stated that it was pertinent to note that when the release of water became necessary, the authorities of the Lagdo Dam would be releasing only a modulated variable small amount of water at a time in order to mitigate and avoid damage that the released water might cause along the River Benue basin in both Cameroon and in Nigeria.
“In view of the above, it would be appreciated if the esteemed agency takes all the necessary proactive steps and actions that will mitigate the damage as well as sensitise the populace living in such areas to vigilance and all necessary precautions.”