Borno Flood: Rescue Officials Trapped During Operations

• Borno SEMA Director Barkindo Mohammed reports that rescue officials became trapped while responding to flooding caused by the Alau Dam collapse
• Thousands of residents in Maiduguri have been displaced due to severe flooding, and many are seeking shelter under trees and in public spaces

Barkindo Mohammed, the Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), has reported that the agency’s officials dispatched to rescue flood victims in Maiduguri have become trapped.

Floodwaters from the Alau Dam, which collapsed early on Tuesday morning, have continued to submerge various areas of the town, leaving thousands of residents displaced and searching for safer locations.

In a conversation with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Mohammed stated that the agency had initiated rescue operations and distributed sandbags to help control the flooding. He explained, “We went for a rescue and distributed 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 remain on the streets with nowhere to go. Many are seen lying or sitting with their families under the shade of trees.

One resident, Musa Abbas, with a family of two women and six children, said he had no place to go since his brothers live in the Bulumkutu area, which requires crossing a bridge that is now submerged. Abbas shared, “The bridge is now submerged; I can’t cross, and my brothers can only come for me. We will sleep here and pray the rain won’t come.”