More than 100,000 people have been displaced by flooding since the start of the rainy season and are now living in temporary shelters, according to Mustapha Habib Ahmed, Director General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), in a statement made available to Reuters on Tuesday.

Floods in Jalingo, Taraba state, Nigeria, July 2021. Photo via NIHSA

Floods have killed at least 300 people in Nigeria this year. The situation is expected to worsen due to heavy rainfall and the effects of excess water from a dam in Cameroon, which will affect 14 Nigerian states, according to the disaster management agency.

According to Ahmed, flooding in 14 states, including those in the oil-producing Niger Delta, will occur due to Cameroon opening flood gates at the Lagdo dam. Authorities blame this year’s flood on water overflowing from some local rivers, unusual rainfalls, and the release of excess water from the Lagdo dam in neighbouring Cameroon’s northern region.

The Floods have also destroyed crops in many farmlands, primarily in Nigeria’s northern region, which produces much of the country’s food, raising fears that they will further disrupt food supplies already disrupted by armed conflict in the country’s northwest and central regions.