Flooding: Niger Republic warns Nigeria, 10,000 displaced in Kogi

Ifeanyi Onuba and Gbenga Odogun
The Niger Basin Authority, with headquarters in Niamey , Niger Republic , on Tuesday, warned of imminent flooding in Nigeria.
The NBA is a regional body of nine-member countries in the West and Central Africa, namely Benin, Burkina Faso , Cameroon, Cote d’ Ivoire , Guinea , Mali, Niger , Nigeria and Chad.
The agency said any progressive increase of water levels could have significant impacts on people and property in flood prone areas in the country .
The NBA said in a statement that it would continue to monitor the situation and provide information as it developed.
It said , “ The Niger Basin Authority is following the situation and will provide information as it develops . Consultation can be done for the follow-up of flood forecasts. ”
The Director General , Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency, Moses Beckley, had said Nigeria should expect more floods of the magnitude comparable to that of 2012 .
He said the flood alert level issued by the NBA was above normal which Nigeria should be wary of.
Beckley said, “ It is above normal . The consequence of that is that there will be more flow into the Nigeria area through the River Niger .
“Since Nigeria is low land, the effect is that as that water comes, expect the water to have arrived in Nigeria from three days after the alert .
“The Jebba and Kainji dams, which were constructed for this same purpose to control the flow of water from upstream, especially water coming from outside, have been so properly managed .