Reports reaching the CEOAFRICA news desk from Abuja indicated that experts have said there is possibility of the River Niger, one of the longest in Africa, overflowing its banks this year on account of heavy rainfall, meteorologists and hydrologists have warned.

Our correspondent from Abuja reported that the experts, in a communiqué at a workshop organised by Nigeria Meteorological Agency [NIMET] and the Africa centre of Meteorological Application for Development [ACMAD] in Abuja, said: ‘’Average to excess flow are expected in upper and middle of the Niger River basin, while in the lower part of the basin, especially the Nigerian section, there are probabilities of excess flows are expected.’’

The experts, according to CEOAFRICA News correspondence from Abuja, also said that other rivers expected to overflow their banks includes; Senegal, Volta, Gambia, Comoe and Oueme as well as Lake Chad Basin, with the effect on agriculture as the major implication of the prediction.

Furthermore, the experts said the coming heavy rains are capable of causing flooding and loss of cultivated areas, as they predicted the condition will favour breeding of pests, including weeds, grasshoppers and other pests for which monitoring and prevention measures should be strengthened.