MAKURDI, Nigeria – Flash floods in Nigeria’s Niger state have killed at least 200 people, with hundreds more still missing and feared dead, officials confirmed Tuesday. The disaster, triggered by torrential rains last Thursday, devastated the town of Mokwa, wiping out entire neighborhoods in what survivors called the worst flooding in living memory.
Niger State Humanitarian Commissioner Ahmad Suleiman told local media that recovery efforts are ongoing, but the full death toll remains unclear. “We have recovered over 200 corpses, but many are still missing,” he said. Some families reported losing more than a dozen relatives in a single day.
The catastrophe highlights Nigeria’s vulnerability to extreme weather, worsened by climate change and poor urban planning. Residents said floodwaters had built up behind an abandoned railway embankment, where blocked drainage culverts caused a sudden, deadly surge.
While authorities had issued flood warnings days earlier, locals criticized the slow disaster response, saying aid has yet to reach many survivors. Bodies have been found as far as 10 km (6 miles) downstream, swept into the Niger River.
This single flood may have surpassed Nigeria’s total 2024 flood deaths (321), underscoring the urgent need for better infrastructure and climate adaptation.