Abuja was enveloped by strong sandstorms which blew hundreds of kilometres from drought-struck Sahara desert to the nation’s capital.

 Abuja residents woke up to orange-tinted skies as the strongest dust-storm so far this year hit the nation’s capital, delaying some flights at the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport in Abuja. 

In Abuja clouds of dust obscured vision, while traders and visitors covered their faces to avoid the dust and soil in windy conditions. 

This is a level five pollution that should have prompted environmental agencies in the nation’s capital to issue warning in the hazardous conditions and urge people to stay indoors. 

The storm also hit other parts of the northern states.

On Saturday, the dust-storm intensity had increased and lasted until Monday. 

Dust-storms are common during dry seasons up north as temperatures rise and clouds of dust are stirred up and blown across. 

The city’s weather experts gave air quality a rare hazardous ranking. 

Air quality is “very bad for the health,” Godwin Atsegwasi, an environmental scientist, warned. He, therefore, advised that people should cover their mouths when outside and keep doors and windows closed. 

Nigeria’s expanding deserts now become worrisome because of overgrazing, deforestation, urban sprawl and drought. The shifting sands have led to a sharp increase in dust-storms — the grit from which can travel far down south. 

 Mr. Atsegwasi has estimated that the number of sandstorms has continued to increase as a result of overgrazing, deforestation and drought.

 Nigeria has planted thousands of hectares of vegetation in recent years to stop the spread of deserts in the northern part, but experts have said the work will take decades for results to show. 

Abuja residents have also complained about the oppressive billows of dust. 

Dust-storms are a direct consequence of overgrazing and over-ploughing in the north, which loosen the topsoil, which is then blown away by strong winds. 

“Most farmers used to live in an area of poor ecological environment,” Atseggawsi told Peoples Daily.