Severe flooding in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, has resulted in the deaths of at least 30 people and displaced over 400,000 residents, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
"The death toll stands at 30," Ezekiel Manzo, a spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), told AFP. The disaster occurred after an overflowing dam caused widespread destruction, sweeping away thousands of homes in Borno State's capital.
Zubaida Umar, another NEMA official, described the situation as "quite frightening," noting that "the flood has engulfed around 40 percent of the entire city." Many residents have been displaced, with over 414,000 people forced to flee their homes, scattered across various parts of the city. Umar also warned that the number of displaced could rise to one million.
The UN refugee agency in Nigeria noted on X (formerly Twitter) that this is the worst flooding the city has experienced in 30 years.