The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has warned 13 states to prepare for possible flooding as a result of the continuous release of water from Lagdo Dam in the last two days.

The NEMA Director-General, Mustapha Habib Ahmed, gave the warning at the National Emergency Coordination Forum meeting in Abuja.

The affected states are: Adamawa, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Delta, Edo, Anambra, Enugu, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Nasarawa and Bayelsa.

“The update from NEMA is that the Agency has been alerted on sudden increased inundation of riparian communities and farmlands along the banks of River Benue in Adamawa, Taraba and Benue states in the past 48 hours.

“The sudden situation is attributed to the rapid release of waters from Lagdo Dam in the Republic of Cameroon and has resulted in the displacement of several inhabitants of the affected communities. Furthermore croplands and valuable infrastructure are at risk of getting washed away by the flood waters.

“Situation reports from Adamawa State confirms the upsurge of flood waters along the flood plains of River Benue. The situation is expected to be replicated in downstream states of Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Anambra, Edo, Delta and Bayelsa as the River Benue joins River Niger and flows to the Atlantic Ocean through the Niger Delta.

“As a result of the unfolding situation, I want to use this opportunity to alert authorities of State and Local Governments along rivers Niger and Benue basin areas to immediately activate their emergency response plans to avert potential damage and losses that will arise due to inundation of communities by flood waters,” Mustapha said

He further said that the NEMA situation room dashboard showed that this year’s flood had affected 159,157 persons, claimed 28 lives, and displaced 48,168 individuals in 13 states across Nigeria. He assured that NEMA would continue working with its partners and the press to update Nigerians on the situation.