The Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has urged states along the Benue River to heighten their alertness due to plans by Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam management to release water from the dam.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, NIHSA’s Director General, Umar Ibrahim Mohamed, highlighted that states at risk of being affected by the dam’s water release include Adamawa, Taraba, Benue, Nasarawa, Kogi, Edo, Delta, Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Rivers.
The agency also called on all levels of government to take precautionary measures to reduce the potential impact of flooding as river levels rise.
According to the statement, the water release will start at a rate of 100 cubic meters per second (8.64 million cubic meters per day) and could increase to 1,000 cubic meters per second over the next week, depending on water flow from the upstream Garoua River, the main feeder of the reservoir and a significant source of the Benue River.
Cameroonian authorities assured NIHSA that the water release would be controlled to prevent exceeding the capacity of the Benue River and avoid significant downstream flooding in Nigeria.
The statement added that the controlled water release will stop once inflows into the Lagdo reservoir significantly reduce. NIHSA stressed that there is no immediate cause for alarm, as major flooding is not expected, with current water levels along the Benue River still within safe limits.
NIHSA reassured the public that it would continue monitoring water levels in the Benue and other rivers, providing timely updates to help prevent any flood-related incidents.