The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has confirmed that over 200,000 people were displaced by flooding that hit Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, in the wee early hours of Tuesday.
According to reports an unspecified number of people, including children are still missing as many children might have drowned.
Acting Zonal Coordinator, NEMA, Sirajo Garba, said they have placed Maiduguri on high alert following the magnitude of devastation of the flood in the last 24 hours.
According to him, the agency, alongside others, had worked diligently to rescue victims trapped in flood-affected areas but could not give the number of people killed by the flood.
The flooding followed the collapse of the Alau Dam, which overflowed its banks about 10 kilometres away into the state capital which submerged hundreds of houses, farmlands and business premises as well destroyed lots of properties worth millions of naira.
Residential and business areas that have submerged, including the popular Monday Market, Palace of the Shehu of Borno, Shehuri, Gwange, Adamkolo, Gamboru, Fori, Bulabulin, Post Office areas, Moromoro, and Customs Bridge, among others.
Many of the residents, said the last time such a devastation enveloped Maiduguri and environs was about 30 years ago, as many traders at the Monday Market watched helplessly as their wares were washed away by the flood.
A resident, Fatima Ali, said: “I managed to escape, but my parents and six siblings remain trapped. I want to appeal to the government to do everything humanly possible to rescue them.”
A shop owner, Ibrahim Musa, said: “We just fled the zoo area for fear of being attacked by the escaping wildlife. All the shops around the popular Monday Market and post office have been submerged by the flood.”
A sugar and flour trader, Muhammad Bulama said: “Our goods worth billions of naira have been submerged. Just pray for us.”
Due to magnitude of the flood, the Gwange Cemetery in Maiduguri was washed away, leaving corpses floating in the streets.
The cemetery is already flat and the water pressure exhumed corpses from several graves, leaving Women and children traumatised by the horrific sights.
Ali Galadima, whose wife was on admission at the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH), said patients were evacuated upstairs as the ground floor was flooded.
“She was complaining of hunger but the water level couldn’t allow me to access the hospital. In fact, many patients’ relatives are stranded looking for ways to access them.
“You can see some mothers crying, looking for their little children,” he said.
A woman, who gave her name as Ya’ana, said: “I was awakened by my neighbours around 3:30am. I became terrified when I saw water gushing into our house. I tried to save my children from drowning, but I still could not see two of my children.”
Commenting on the disaster, the state Chairman of the Association of Resident Doctors, Abubakar Ngubdo, warned that the state was at the high risk of water-borne diseases as the flood had contaminated the surface water in the affected areas.
“There would be pollution because corpses floated, sewages, septic tanks and refuse dumps are also there. So there would be contamination of water.
“The government should swing into action to prevent epidemic because floods can lead to water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and typhoid fever.
“There is need to provide good camping of the displaced, clean and portable drinking water, toilets and healthcare for them.
“And for those who show early signs of the diseases, they should quickly be attended to medically,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Borno Zoological garden has warned residents of Maiduguri metropolis to be more vigilant, as deadly animals have been washed by flood into nearby communities.
The Zoo warned that deadly animals, including crocodiles and snakes, have escaped the facility following damage of the zoo property.
In a statement, the Ali Abatcha, General Manager of the Zoological Garden in a statement said the flood resulted in 80% loss of the animals in the garden.
Similarly, a prison wall located along the Custom area was pushed down by flood as some inmates allegedly drowned while several others escaped.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of Northern States Governors, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State in a statement has extended heartfelt sympathy to the government and people of Borno State.
The Forum assured Governor Babagana Zulum and the people of Borno State of their solidarity and support and urges Federal Government and humanitarian organization to bolster their relief efforts.
Also, President Tinubu has assured Governor Babagana Umara Zulum that the Federal Government is ready to collaborate to address the immediate humanitarian needs of the affected people.
The Borno State Government on Tuesday reopened several Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps to accommodate people affected by the flood.
Veteran journalist and recipient of A.B.C Yola, Reporter of the Year Award (1997), Hassan Umar Shallpella, works with WAP as a Regional Correspondence. He was trained at Institute of Mass Communication and Technology Jos and Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, Training School Lagos.He was a News desk Editor and a Correspondent at the Punch newspaper and till 2019, was the Deputy Editor ofThe Scope newspaper.
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