Five people have been killed with over 50 others injured following a devastating flood that swept through several communities in Yola North and Yola South Local Government Areas of Adamawa State on Sunday.
Heavy rainfall, which began before dawn and continued into Sunday morning, caused widespread destruction in the affected areas.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the flood claimed five lives and left about 55 others injured.
The worst-hit communities include Yola Bye Pass, Sabon Pegi, Yolde Pate, and Modire, where houses were submerged, farmlands destroyed, and roads washed away, hindering both human and vehicular movement.
Reports had it that Shagari Low Cost and Sabon Pegi communities were completely submerged, forcing residents to flee for safety.
The floodwaters had yet to recede as at Sunday evening, leaving many homes uninhabitable.
Residents also confirmed that electricity supply had been cut off in the most affected areas.
“We lost everything. The water rushed in so suddenly that we had no time to rescue our things,” lamented a resident of Yola Bye Pass.
The risk of deadly waterborne diseases is rising due to stagnant water and poor sanitation in the affected communities.
The Adamawa Commissioner of Police, CP Dankombo Moris, said trained marine police officers and engine boats had been deployed to assist people affected by the flood disaster.
“The Adamawa State Police Command, in collaboration with personnel from the 23 Brigade, Yola, has been mobilised to the affected areas to engage with the community and provide support to those in distress,” police spokesperson, Suleiman Yahaya Nguroje, said in a statement on Sunday.
He also confirmed that two corpses have so far been recovered and deposited at the Modibbo Adama University Teaching Hospital.
Meanwhile, the Adamawa State Government has begun distributing relief materials to flood victims displaced by hours of heavy rainfall in Yola.
Deputy Governor Kaleptapwa Farauta, who addressed journalists after visiting the affected areas, said the government had provided both food and non-food items to the victims.
“We have two temporary camps for safety, where food and medications are provided. We have also intervened at the hospital to ensure free medical care for the victims,” Ms Farauta said.
She added that the two camps-Namtari and Aliyu Mustapha College-would soon be merged at the Aliyu Mustapha College site to enhance security and ensure better coordination of aid.
The federal government recently issued a red alert for imminent flooding in 11 states, including Adamawa, Kano, Akwa Ibom, and Borno.
The warning, which forecast possible flood events, was issued by the National Flood Early Warning Centre under the Federal Ministry of Environment.
Similarly, during the April unveiling of the 2025 Annual Flood Outlook, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Prof. Joseph Utsev, identified several high-risk flood areas.
These include Abia, Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kebbi, Kogi, Kwara, Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Rivers, Sokoto, Taraba, Yobe, Zamfara, and the FCT.
Between March and June 2025, over 250 people were killed and more than 8,000 displaced due to a series of floods, windstorms, and rainstorms across states such as Sokoto, Niger, Kaduna, Taraba, Ekiti, Ogun, and Imo.
The deadliest incident occurred on June 11 in Mokwa, Niger State, where over 200 people died and dozens went missing after a massive flood submerged large parts of the town.
Credit: Daily Trust
