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LAGOS, June 21 (Xinhua) -- The Nigerian government on Tuesday alerted citizens living along the banks of River Niger of imminent flooding.
Spokesperson for the National Orientation Agency (NOA) Fidel Agu said in a statement reaching Xinhua in Lagos that the alert has become necessary following intelligence reports from the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) and the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA).
The Niger River Basin, traversing the Republics of Guinea, Mali, Niger and Nigeria, would be flooded in mid-2016 due to forecasted heavy downpour, he said.
Agu warned that many Nigerians would be among the one hundred million people to be affected along the flood path of the more than two million square kilometers Niger River Basin.
The spokesperson assured that all relevant government organs and other stakeholders had been alerted and measures were being put in place to ensure their safety.
Nigeria, in 2012, spent billion of naira in tackling floods and its effect across the country, while about 360 lives were lost and properties worth billions of naira were destroyed. Enditem
