The recurring flooding of communities around Shiroro in Niger State has become an annual disaster waiting to happen, the Northern Senators Forum has warned, demanding an urgent overhaul of dam operations and a permanent relocation plan for communities repeatedly exposed to flood risks. BMI
The warning followed the latest flooding that swept through parts of Minna, Chanchaga, Bosso and Shiroro Local Government Areas, leaving residents counting the cost in lost lives, homes, farms, businesses and livelihoods.
The Northern Senators Forum, in a statement signed by its Chairman, Senator Abdulaziz Musa Yar’Adua, on Wednesday, said the latest disaster should no longer be treated as another emergency requiring temporary relief materials and compensation.
Instead, the lawmakers demanded a fundamental review of the country’s flood-control and dam-management strategy, particularly around the Shiroro, Kainji and Jebba dams.
The senators called for the immediate development of a Shiroro Flood Management Master Plan, which they said should establish scientifically determined operating rules for the dams, taking into account rainfall patterns, reservoir levels, downstream communities and changing climate conditions.
They also demanded an independent technical review of dam operations, reservoir capacity and spillway performance to determine whether existing infrastructure and release procedures are adequate to protect communities downstream.
The lawmakers said government must stop responding to the crisis only after communities have been submerged.
They called for a permanent flood forecasting and early-warning system, supported by trained local volunteers capable of alerting residents before dangerous water levels are reached.
The forum also proposed a comprehensive floodplain resettlement programme under which communities in high-risk areas would be moved to properly planned settlements, with compensation and livelihood support provided to affected residents.
It said such a programme would be preferable to the recurring cycle in which residents lose their homes and livelihoods, receive emergency assistance and eventually return to the same vulnerable locations.
The senators nevertheless urged the Federal and Niger State governments to immediately provide relief materials to verified victims, establish temporary shelters with basic healthcare and sanitation facilities and deploy evacuation and early-warning teams to vulnerable communities.
They also urged residents to comply with safety warnings and desist from building on waterways and natural drainage channels.
The lawmakers said the warning signs had been evident for years, pointing to the 2025 Mokwa flood tragedy and a 2025 vulnerability study which reportedly found that 32 per cent of Shiroro Local Government Area was highly prone to flooding.
They warned that the repeated destruction showed that emergency interventions alone were failing to address the underlying causes.
The forum said road and drainage rehabilitation projects were necessary but insufficient unless incorporated into a broader environmental and water-resource management strategy.
Such a strategy, it said, must tackle deforestation, inadequate drainage and unregulated development along riverbanks and floodplains.
The senators commended the National Emergency Management Agency and the Niger State Emergency Management Agency for their assessment and documentation of the latest disaster but insisted that the ultimate responsibility was prevention rather than repeated post-disaster intervention.
“We stand in solidarity with the people of Niger State and assure them of the Northern Senators Forum’s commitment to advocate for appropriate budgetary provisions and legislative support to prevent avoidable disasters,” the statement said.
The forum urged federal and state authorities, traditional rulers, community leaders and residents to work together to protect vulnerable communities.
For the senators, the latest flooding should be a turning point: government must move from counting the victims of Shiroro floods every rainy season to preventing the next disaster before it happens.