Floods in Nigeria’s northeastern Borno state have displaced up to one million people, according to the state governor, as authorities try to rescue residents and place them in temporary shelters.
The flooding started when a dam spilt after heavy rains, destroying a state-owned zoo and bringing crocodiles and snakes into flooded neighbourhoods.
Local officials described it as the worst flooding in the state in two decades.
Authorities have yet to release casualty figures.
Borno state governor Babagana Zulum visited Bakassi camp on Wednesday and told reporters that authorities were evaluating the damage, and that a quarter of Maiduguri, the state capital, had been flooded.
“You can see how water completely flooded the area, sewerages were completely flooded, that means waterborne diseases would be transmitted,” Zulum told reporters while meeting affected residents.
“The population affected is up to 1 million,” he said in reference to the floods.
Bakassi camp housed tens of thousands of individuals displaced by Boko Haram’s 15-year insurgency. The camp was closed last year.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency, 229 people have died as a result of flooding in Nigeria since the beginning of this year. The worst flooding in recent times killed 600 individuals in 2022.
