The situation in the recently flooded Maiduguri town has been described as “terrible” by Mr. Barkindo Mohammed, the Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA).
The water from Alau Dam, which collapsed on Tuesday morning, is still flooding different wards in the town, and many displaced residents are searching for safer locations.
Mohammed on Wednesday said that the agency had since commenced rescue operations and distribution of sandbags.
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“Just now we went for a rescue and proceeded to distribute sandbags in Gozari.
“As I am talking to you now I am trapped; we came to rescue some people and we are now trapped with my staff,’’ he said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of people are in the streets with nowhere to go while some could be seen lying or sitting under tree shades with their families.
Musa Abbas, with a family of two women and six children, said he had nowhere to go as his brothers were residing in the Bulumkutu area that needed one to cross the bridge.
“The bridge is now submerged; I can’t cross, and my brothers can only come for me.
“We will sleep here and continue to pray the rain won’t come,” Abbas said.
The Eastern Updates also reports that an unspecified number of inmates at the Maiduguri correctional center have escaped following a prison break.
Raging floods had caused extensive damage to the prison and other facilities in the city and the prison authorities confirmed that the escapees were considered highly dangerous, stressing that they may be armed.
The development may heighten security threats in the state, occasioned by the activities of terrorists, bandits and other criminal elements.
It was, however, gathered that a manhunt is underway to locate and recapture the escaped inmates, with law enforcement agencies mobilising additional resources.
