A vast expanse of farmlands and residential homes has been submerged by rampaging floods in Northern Cross River following the dumping of excess water into the Cross River and its tributaries by high rainfall.
The floods, which have rampaged Ogoja, Yala, and Bekwara Local Government Areas, swept away rice plots, yams, cassava, and cocoyam farms, with some of the farms at the stage of harvest.
Most affected by the flood are the villages of Adum, Ogba, Izibollo in Ntrigom, Mfuma, and Mbora, all in South Ukelle wards of Yala Local Government Area, as well as Ezekwe, Okpodon, Wanikade, and Wanihem in North Ukelle wards in the same Yala Local Government Area. Other places hard hit by the flood are Yahe, Aliforkpa, Ekprinyi, and in the same Yala Local Government Area.
In Ogoja, places like Aladim, Ogoja Ndep, and Bansara have been severely devastated by the flood.
When Vanguard visited some of the affected areas, many farmers, especially women, couldn’t contain their pain as they wept openly to bemoan the loss of their crops.
At the village of Adum in Ntrigom, South Ukelle ward, a widow, Madam Cecilia Ugbem, told this reporter that she lost her husband last year, and the impact of the flood this year amounts to a double tragedy on her.
“Everything I planted is gone. My rice , yam and cassava farms are all gone. For the past three weeks, the water level in the river has continued to rise. We have never experienced a situation like this in this community before . I have lived here for over fifty years and seen all sorts of things but never seen this kind of flood water”.
Another resident of the area, Idabi Samuel, said he has not been able to access his farm for the past three weeks since the water level encroached on it, and he will not bother to go there even if the flood recedes.
“The surprising thing is that the water level only rises and it is more or less stagnant. Any crop not swept away would rot because of the stagnant water”.
The Chairman of the community, Mr. Kieran Agara, said that the impact of climate change, which was once thought to be a joke, has come to prove that it is real.
” We hear the cutting down of trees would generate excessive heat but what we are seeing is excessive rainfall and this is inflicting terrible pain on us. We also hear the climate change impact could be forward or backward, that is excess heat or excess rain and here we are, excessive rainfall has dealt with us. There is hardly a day that rain does not fall here and the rain comes in high volumes”.
In other places visited , it is the same sad story. At Yahe, one Edra Iyaji said the local river, which flows into Cross-River, overflooded its banks three weeks ago and swept away their crops.
“As I talk to you now, many of us do not have anything to hold on to. The yams, rice and cocoyam we depended on for survival have all gone. In three weeks time, it will be New Yam Festival. Tell me what will be our fate?”. He asked rhetorically.
At Ogoja Ndep, a largely rice-cultivating community, almost all the rice farms have been flooded. One farmer, Adaji Michael, said the rice they tried to rescue is mainly chaff and completely worthless.
“As you can see the rice, it looks like chaff or remnants of palm fruits after the oil and kernel have been extracted and when you take it to the rice mill, everything grounds to powder and has very dark colour and offensive smell. Nobody can eat it. What we are going to experience this year is going to be massive hunger”.He stated.
Many farmers cry out to both the state and federal governments to come to their aid. According to them, they need money, food, and shelter for those whose homes were swept away to sustain them.
Mr Antigua Edem Gill, the Director General of the Cross River State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, who is leading a team to visit affected areas said the farmers were warned through enlightenment campaign not to farm near rivers but most of them thought the rains and subsequent floods would be as past years where no much damage is done but have been overwhelmed by the severity of the 2025 flooding.
“NiMET warned that Cross River is amongst states that would be impacted by severe flooding this year and we went around warning the residents of riverine areas to avoid farming near rivers , but my brother, these people have been farming in these areas for many years without much flooding but this year’s flooding has been unprecedented in some places. We are taking statistics and data of those affected and thank God, the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has sent a representative to the state to assess the level of damage . We are appealing to individuals, non governmental organisations and international organisations to come to the aid of our people to help mitigate the impact of the disaster”.
He said SEMA is undertaking counselling sessions with those affected by the flood disaster to take things easy and avoid taking their own lives or developing high blood pressure, which could worsen their state.
“You can imagine someone who has harvested two hundred bags of rice and kept in his farm and ready to move the rice home the next day and that same night, flood sweeps everything away. He might decide to take the wrong option. That is what we want to prevent. The lives of our people are important,” The SEMA director general stated.
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