The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) says it is prepared for the imminent collapse of Lake Nyos and the potential disaster it poses to Benue and other states in Nigeria.
Alhaji Alhassan Aliyu, NEMA’s North-Central Zonal Coordinator, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Jos on Sunday that experts had predicted that the lake, near Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, would eventually collapse by 2015.
The collapse of lake, which is also a volcanic dam, would cause the release up to 50 million cubic metres (1.8 billion cu ft) of water into Katsina-Ala River.
“The water will flood Benue and Taraba states and release much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
“NEMA has installed warning signals in Kashimbila to warn people, about 10 km away, of the possibility of a flood and advised that they be wary and ready for the lake’s collapse if it eventually occurs earlier than the 2015 date.
“The warning signals, a kind of scientific installation coded in several languages of the communities, inform the residents about the impending flood and forewarn everybody to immediately leave the river bank.
“This alert system enables the people, particularly those downstream, to get prompt information so that their evacuation can be done as quickly as possible in the event of any flood passing through the communities.”
Aliyu noted that the basement of the lake was now weak and could collapse any moment from now, warning that southern states of the country, particularly Cross River, were also likely to be flooded.
He advised the states to construct buffer dams to hold such excess water.
He stressed that NEMA, in collaboration with other stakeholders, had undertaken the technical study of the lake and the prognosis indicated imminent hazards that could trigger major disasters.
Aliyu said that a buffer dam was also being constructed by the Federal Government as a proactive measure to contain the effects of the lake’s imminent collapse, adding that “we are not taking chances.
“The Federal Government is constructing a buffer dam that will serve as a protective measure for the imminent catastrophe and reduce the impact of the flooding on Benue communities because they will experience the worst floods.
“Although work on the dam was slow at the beginning, it has now been hastened after NEMA’s sensitisation workshop and advocacy visits where we alerted those concerned to the imminent threats,’’ he said.
“We are happy that government’s response is highly commendable,’’ he added.
The zonal coordinator said that NEMA had carried out sensitisation campaigns on the hazards posed by the lake, while experts had also alerted the Benue State Government and the people to the imminent threats.
Aliyu disclosed that the state government and other stakeholders had been putting some palliative measures in place to minimise the impact of the impending disaster on the people.
“Anytime you talk in Benue about disaster management, they always think of Lake Nyos; they also remind you to do something about it and this is exactly what we are doing.
“Our biggest problem now is what to do about the communities around the River Benue in the event of the lake’s collapse because there is no network of roads in the area.
“However, we are discussing with other stakeholders that have expertise in road constructions so that more pathways and escape routes can be constructed for the people.”
Aliyu said that NEMA has engaged the services of the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation, which was currently working on how the escape routes could constructed for the threatened communities in the event of the lake’s collapse.
He, nonetheless, conceded that government had always been very careful about evacuating communities because of their attachments to their lands, noting that in a democratic country such as Nigeria, the citizens always insisted on their freedom of choice.
He stressed that the government could only inform the communities about the consequences of their continued stay in hazardous areas, adding that the communities had the liberty to decide whether to leave or stay.
Aliyu, however, noted that the simulation exercise, which was an important aspect of managing any disaster that could crop up from the lake’s collapse, had not commenced as yet.
“The areas the lake’s collapse is likely to cover are very complex and when it collapses, NEMA has to coordinate all stakeholders that need to be mobilised but it is not easy to coordinate an agency that is not completely under your control.
“However, NEMA has very capable staff undergoing a lot of simulation work about flood, fire and any other aspect of disaster, particularly our search-and-rescue team,” he said.
NAN reports that Lake Nyos, which contains a large amount of carbon dioxide deposits, suddenly emitted a large cloud of carbon dioxide which suffocated an estimated 1,700 people and 3,500 livestock in 1986.
However, Aliyu disclosed that a degassing tube which siphonedwater from the bottom layers of water to the top, to allow carbon dioxide to leak in safe quantities, had been installed in 2001 to prevent a recurrence.
He, nonetheless, stressed that additional tubes were still needed to make the lake safe. (NAN)