Nigeria braces for more floods as Cameroon opens dam

Nigeria’s National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) held an emergency meeting on Tuesday following deadly floods that could worsen after neighbouring Cameroon opened flood gates at a dam to release excess water.

Since the start of the rainy season in July, at least 300 people have been killed and more than 100,000 others displaced.

Nema Director General Mustapha Habib Ahmed said 13 Nigerian states are at risk.

He said the spill-over effects from Cameroon’s Lagdo dam combined with heavy rainfall could affect more states – including the oil-producing Niger Delta.

“The released water complicates the situation further downstream, as Nigeria’s inland reservoirs including Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro, are also expected to overflow between now and October ending,” Mr Ahmed said.

Heavy rains in the north-eastern Yobe State have submerged roads and swept a major bridge linking the state capital and some local government areas, the authorities said.