Floods in northcentral Nigeria strand thousands of travelers, kill 7
Thousands of travelers remained stranded Friday in Nigeria’s Kogi state after major roads connecting the northcentral state to other parts of the nation were submerged amid the country’s worst flooding in a decade.
The floods have killed seven people, the Kogi commissioner for information said.
“Five days complete now, all the transport we carry, we don’t feel safe now”, Yahaya Yunusa says.
“Hunger is affecting us now. Nobody is happy, everybody is crying inside their hearts but we thank the Almighty we are alive”, the truck driver adds.
One or two days ago one older man died because of hunger. All this (is) because the conditions (we find ourselves in). Weneed help, we need assistance, I pray to Almighty God.”
Authorities have so far struggled to evacuate residents in affected areas. Lokoja, the state capital, is situated at the confluence of Nigeria’s two biggest rivers, Niger and Benue.
The floods are blamed mainly on the release of excess water from Lagdo dam in neighboring Cameroon and unusual rainfall.
Floods have caused more than 300 deaths in Nigeria this year.
