Devastating floods in Nigeria pressure tons of of 1000’s from properties

Hundreds of thousands in Nigeria have fled their homes to avoid the sweeping floods that have devastated the country and allowed nearly 300 prisoners to escape a single jail. 

Maiduguri, the capital of the northern Borno state, suffered its worst floods in decades this week, which decimated a dam that was holding back the water. 

The flood has killed at least 30 people according to the country’s emergency agency and affected a million others, with hundreds of thousands of people forced into camps for displaced people. Since the beginning of the rainy season, nearly 260 people have been killed. 

In Maiduguri, the floods ‘brought down the walls of the correctional facilities including the Medium Security Custodial Centre, as well as the staff quarters in the city,’ officials said, adding that so far just seven have been recaptured. 

Meanwhile, regular citizens haven’t been quite as lucky. 

Fatima Yakubu told AFP she woke up in the middle of the night to find her legs submerged as water rose in her home in northeastern Nigeria earlier this week.

Hundreds of thousands in Nigeria have fled their homes to avoid the sweeping floods that have devastated the country

In Maiduguri, the floods ‘brought down the walls of the correctional facilities including the Medium Security Custodial Centre’ (pictured) 

Maiduguri, the capital of the northern Borno state, suffered its worst floods in decades this week

She screamed and people helped her escape with her six children.

Flood waters have displaced more than one million people in and around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State, in one of the worst ever floods in Africa’s most populous country.

Thousands of homes were engulfed by rapidly rising waters after a dam burst following a weekend of torrential rain in northeastern Nigeria.

‘I shouted for help in terror and some men outside heard my scream and came into the house which was already flooded and rescued us,’ said Yakubu, 26, describing her survival as a ‘miracle’.

She and her children took shelter in one of the eight camps set up by authorities.

Flood waters have displaced more than one million people in and around Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State

Yobe state emergency workers and Nigerian soldiers rescue people from flooded areas in Maiduguri, northern Borno state

Thousands of homes were engulfed by rapidly rising waters after a dam burst following a weekend of torrential rain in northeastern Nigeria

A view of the prison where nearly three hundred prisoners escaped after floods in Maiduguri

Just seven prisonders have been apprehended following the mass escape

NEMA’s director general Zubaida Umar said on X on Thursday she was relieved that the ‘flood level in Maiduguri is receding, and normalcy is beginning to return to the metropolis,’ adding that rescue operations were ongoing in the city flooded up to 40 percent.

‘Children and families are still trapped in their homes,’ British charity Save The Children said in a statement on Friday.

‘The immense damage to water and sanitation services is driving up the risk of cholera and other water- and vector-borne diseases,’ the NGO said, pointing out that the city’s two main hospitals had also been flooded.

The World Food Programme (WFP) said the disaster would increase the risk of food insecurity, particularly in the vulnerable northeast.