Two NGOs, the Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Nigeria and Prince and Princess Charles Offokaja Foundation Switzerland have sued the Nigerian Government at the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice over the non-completion of the Dasin Hausa Dam, which has caused massive loss of lives and property from flooding each time Cameroon opens its Lagdo Dam to release excess water.

The Dasin Hausa Dam was designed to act as a shock absorber to flood waters flowing from Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam into Nigeria each time Cameroon opens up its Lagdo Dam to release excess water.

Cameroon’s Lagdo Dam was constructed from 1977 to 1982. But Nigeria’s Dasin Hausa Dam on the Nigerian side has inexplicably been under construction since 1982, currently for a total of 41 years in 2023.

And this delay in building it has led to loss of lives and property, particularly in the floods of 2012 and in 2022.

In those years, the massive flood waters faced no barrier, and submerged many communities in many states from River Benue Basin to Anambra, to the Niger Delta before emptying into the Atlantic Ocean.

According to the suit, apart from serving as a barrier against floods, the dam would have been capable of providing irrigation to about 150,000 hectres of land for agriculture, hold thousands of tons of fish, and also provide about 300 mega watts of electricity if it had been completed.

The NGOs are particularly asking the court to order the Government to complete an updated version of the dam within 18 months of judgement, in order to forestall further loss of life and property from flooding.

They are also asking the court to ensure that the dam works optimally in the face of Global Warming.

No date has been fixed for hearing.
https://igbodefender.com/ngos-drag-nigerian-government-to-ecowas-court-over-non-completion-of-dasin-hausa-dam/

The Dasin Hausa Dam needs to be built asap.