Comrade Yakubu Garba, the deputy governor of Niger State, reported that 200 people had died and over 1,000 were remained unaccounted for as a result of the disastrous Mokwa flood.
Garba shared the sobering statistics with Peter Obi, a former presidential contender who visited Government House in Minna to offer condolences for the tragedy.
Over 2,000 homes have been impacted by the water, and over 3,000 people have been displaced, according to the deputy governor.
As families frantically look for their loved ones, he continued, the number of bodies retrieved keeps increasing everyday.
He expressed deep concern that many of the missing persons are now feared dead, calling the situation one of the most tragic in recent times.
“We cannot give you exact interim statistics because even yesterday, whatever we have seen before yesterday, the number has gone up. If we say this is the number today, the next day, you see the number go up again. But I know from the people that there were people displaced, and nobody has seen them.
“For now, we don’t know where they are and our solution. Those people have actually been swept off by water, and the number is not less than 1,000. We have reviewed house to house, and based on the household, the number of people that are yet to be seen is more than 1,000.
“But the dead that have been seen, physically dead, they are almost close to 200 now. And the displaced persons are more than 3,000 plus and the affected properties are more than 2,000. There are some roads that have been washed away, and about three bridges have collapsed due to the wave of this river.
“So nobody can ascertain exactly the figure of what has happened. You can only see what you see at that moment. But actually in our time, you will see that number continue scaling up.”