The tranquil village of Mokwa in Niger State was devastated by severe floods in the early hours of Thursday, with at least 21 people thought to have perished in the deluge.  

The state governor, Mohammed Bago, was celebrating his second anniversary at the time of the devastating disaster.  In addition to human casualties, the flood tragedy caused extensive property destruction.  

In his confirmation of the tragedy on Thursday, Abullahi Baba-Arah, the Director General of the Niger State Emergency Management Agency, stated that 10 people were still unaccounted for and that 21 bodies had been retrieved.

“NSEMA is in receipt of a report of a deadly flood disaster that ravaged two communities of Tiffin maza and Anguwan Hausawa in Mokwa town of Mokwa LGA.

“The incident occurred last night during a torrential rain of very high intensity that lasted several hours, the surging flood water submerged and washed away over 50 residential houses with their occupants.

“In response, the agency, in collaboration with the Mokwa LG authorities, divers and very brave volunteers conducted a search and rescue operation to rescue survivors and recover corpses.

“At present, three survivors (a woman and her two children) are receiving treatment for wounds and shock at the Mokwa General Hospital, 21 corpses have so far been recovered of those who sadly lost their lives in the incident while over 10 persons are still missing,” Baba-Arah stated.

Source