The Federal Government has issued a warning indicating that 148 local government areas across 31 states in the country are situated in high flood-risk zones. This announcement was made in Abuja by the Minister of Water Resources, Prof. Joseph Utsev, during the presentation of the key points from the 2024 Annual Flood Outlook prepared by the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency on Tuesday.
Utsev outlined the states with high flood-risk areas, including Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kofi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, and Yobe. These areas are expected to be susceptible to floods between April and November 2024.
Furthermore, the minister noted that a portion of the 249 LGAs spread across 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) fall within moderate flood risk zones, although specific locations were not disclosed.
While Nigeria typically experiences seasonal flooding, the floods of 2022 were particularly severe, marking the worst since the 2012 floods. The 2022 flooding impacted 33 out of Nigeria's 36 states, resulting in the displacement of over two million people.
