The Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Barkindo Mohammed, has described the situation in flooded Maiduguri town as “terrible.” He said he and some of his colleagues who were on rescued mission are currently trapped in the flood.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that water from Alau Dam, which collapsed early Tuesday morning, has continued to submerge various wards in the town while thousands of displaced residents are scouting for safer places. Mohammed revealed on Tuesday that the agency has started conducting rescue efforts and distributing sandbags to mitigate the flood’s impact in Maiduguri. He said, “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.’’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.
A resident, Musa Abbas, with a family of two wives 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.
