Author: AbdulRahman Tahir, Maiduguri

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has arrived in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to commiserate with the government and people of the state over the recent flood disaster. In the North East state, the President, who arrived in Abuja on Sunday night from London, would evaluate the impact of the flood on residential houses, hospitals, markets, schools, and other public facilities. The president, who returned to the country last night after trips to UAE, China and UK, arrived at the Air Force Base in Borno, at exactly 3:20pm. In a video seen by our correspondent on X, the president’s aircraft landed at…

OFFICIALS from the United Nations and humanitarian organisations have visited Maiduguri over the devastating floods ravaging the area. The team, comprising of international and national Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), was led by UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall. They arrived in the Borno State capital on Saturday on an assessment visit over the Alau Dam flood disaster. This was disclosed in a press release to journalists on Sunday by the National Information Officer of the UN Information Centre, Oluseyi Soremekun. Soremekun said the team met with affected residents, government officials, and Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum, to…

BORNO State government has established a dedicated relief fund that can provide urgent assistance to those affected by the recent flooding within Maiduguri and its environs. A statement by the Senior Special Assistant on New Media, Abdurrahman Ahmed Bundi, said the government aims to mobilise support from citizens, organisations, and international partners to alleviate the suffering of flood victims and facilitate their recovery. “The recent floods have caused significant destruction, displacement of families and damage to vital infrastructure. “Faced with this humanitarian crisis; Borno State Government calls on all individuals and groups to contribute to the newly created flood relief…

THE National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has said that the widely reported flooding in Maiduguri, Borno State is beginning to recede, and normalcy is returning to the metropolis. Director General, NEMA, Zubaida Umar revealed this in a statement on Thursday, while giving an update on the current situation in the worst flooding occurrence in the history of Nigeria. She said, “Though our work is far from being done and our round-the-clock emergency response, monitoring, and assessment continues, it’s important to provide some updates. “First is the relieving observation that the flood level in Maiduguri is receding, and normalcy is beginning…

SURVIVORS of the Maiduguri flood, the worst in three decades, have narrated their harrowing experiences before they were rescued. The heavy rainfall, which began Monday night had ruptured the Alau Dam in the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and flooded residential areas and public buildings, including hospitals and schools. Those taken to safety thanked God for saving their lives, but said many families are still trapped in hard to reach locations. Our correspondents report that search and rescue teams have intensified operations at various locations as the flood waters continue to recede. Survivors of the Maiduguri flood, the…

THOUSANDS of families trapped in Maiduguri flooded areas are being evacuated to safer areas by the military, volunteers and other security agencies. Visiting the most affected areas in Maiduguri, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, toured through the Customs area where the broken prison is located. While on the tour, dead bodies were also being evacuated. Trapped persons were also being evacuated by the military, security agencies and civilian volunteers. Although some flooded areas of Maiduguri have receded, badly affected areas like Gamboru Market, Kasuwan Shanu, Custom Area, Fori, and Abbaganaram are actively flooded. The premises of the Nigerian prisons…

AT least 286 inmates have reportedly escaped from the Maiduguri medium security custodial centre following severe flooding in the capital city on Tuesday. Already, the Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, is in Maiduguri to assess the flood’s impact on the facility. Nevertheless, a statement from the spokesman for the service, Umar Abubakar disclosed that the federal government is working to evacuate the correctional centre. Umar assured the public that the service is working with sister security agencies to take the necessary measures to ensure public safety. The Federal Government has also begun the evacuation of residents of the affected communities…

THE Federal Government has begun the evacuation of residents of the affected communities in the flooding that has ravaged Maiduguri, the capital of Borno State. A statement by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Tuesday, said it is also working on the provision of food, shelter and medical assistance for the victims. NEMA also confirmed that over 200,000 people were displaced. An unspecified number of people, including children are still missing. Many properties including, houses, farmlands and business places have also been destroyed. The residents, most of who are from Jere Local Government Area, have been forced to vacate…

VICE President Kashim Shettima says, despite preparations, the severity of the floods in Maiduguri is most catastrophic in over three decades in the state capital Shettima stated this on Tuesday during an on-the-spot assessment of the ravaging floods, in Maiduguri, Borno State. He said the impacts of the floods exceeded estimation, but assured that the Federal Government would prioritise the welfare of the affected communities. President Bola Tinubu had directed Shettima to, immediately, visit Maiduguri, to assess the devastating flood in the state capital. “The flood’s unprecedented scale has presented challenges beyond our previous experiences. “The disaster serves as a…

MAJOR roads, houses, and shops in Maiduguri metropolis, the Borno State capital, and parts of the Jere Local Government Area have been submerged by floodwaters. The Shehu’s Palace, the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital, and Sanda Kyarimi Park Zoo were some of the public infrastructure submerged by flood. A prison wall located along the Custom area was broken by flood as some inmates allegedly drowned while several others escaped for their lives. Major roads within the state capital including the Post-Office Roundabout which links major locations in the capital are flooded thereby cutting off vehicular movement within the metropolis. The…

THE collapse of Alau Dam that has been allegedly filled to capacity for the past one week is the cause of the flood in Borno State. This newspaper had reported how thousands of residents fled their homes following a devastating flood in parts of Maiduguri, Borno state capital. The last time the dam had such a problem was in 1994, resulting in unprecedented flooding in Maiduguri when almost half of the town was flooded. In a statement in the early hours of Tuesday by Prof. Usman Tar, the Commissioner for Information and Internal Security, titled “Flooding Alert for River Bank…

THERE was heightened panic as the Forestry and Wild Life in Borno Ministry of Environment says a herd of elephants that allegedly strayed from the neighbouring Cameroon has invaded and destroyed some community farmlands in the state. A Director in the ministry, Mr Ayuba Peter, confirmed the ugly incident in an interview with this newspaper in Maiduguri on Monday. Peter said the incident had become perennial in the last five years in the area. “We have been having reports of elephants destroying farmlands in Gamboru/Ngala and Kala-Balge Local Government Areas (LGAs) for the past five years. “They use to come…

BORNO State High Court Chief Judge, Justice Haruna Mshelia, who was abducted alongside his wife, driver and orderly by suspected Boko Haram terrorists along Biu-Damaturu-Maiduguri Road, on June 24, 2024, has regained his freedom, sources told this newspaper. Meanwhile, another source confirmed that the wife, Bintu Mshelia, the driver, were still in captivity, while the police orderly has been executed. Justice Mshelia, a judge of the Borno State High Court sitting in Maiduguri was traveling in his vehicle, accompanied by his driver, a security escort and his wife when the sad incident took place about two months ago. In a…

THE Commissioner for Finance in Borno State, Ahmed Ali Ahmed, is dead. Details of his death are still sketchy, but sources familiar with the incident told our correspondent that the commissioner died inside his room on Monday morning. The deceased was said to have exceeded the time he usually comes out in the morning. His door was then forced open where his corpse was found. “Oga is no more, he died early this morning,” the source told this newspaper. Governor Babagana Zulum has lost two of his cabinet members within one year.

GOVERNOR Babagana Zulum of Borno has alleged that 95 per cent of those who participated in Thursday’s violent protests in Maiduguri were children under 14 years. This newspaper reports that Zulum made this known in a broadcast to the people of Borno where he also declared the lifting of the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state. Zulum said: “Over 95 per cent of those who participated in the so-called Thursday protests were children under 14 years. Most of them do not know why they are protesting. “A six- year-old child carrying a placard is amazing; he must have been directed…

A NEW report by Nextier has indicated that insurgency recorded 109 deaths arising from 19 violent incidents, perpetrated by the Boko Haram and Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) insurgents in the first half of 2024 alone. The report ‘Nigeria’s Northeast Belt of Insurgency and the Challenge of Refugees’, also called on the Federal Government to liaise with neighbouring countries and regional bodies to boost joint border surveillance. The report was authored by an Associate Consultant at Nextier and a Lecturer at the Political Science Department of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria, Dr Chukwuma Okoli, and a Managing…

FOUR protesters were killed at Kime filling station, Bolori Junction in Maiduguri, Borno state capital, on Thursday. Officials at the petrol station, who identified the deceased as their workers, gave separate accounts of how they died. “As I’m speaking to you know, they are still lying in the pool of their blood,” said one of the attendants that gave his name as Malam Musa. Musa who confirmed that he was with the victims said they died from an explosion. “I nearly got affected, but as God would have it, I escaped unhurt.” However, another source, who pleaded for anonymity, said…

A 24-HOUR curfew has been declared in Borno State amid the ongoing hunger protests across the nation. Spokesman for the Command, Nahum Kenneth Daso, who announced this in a statement on Thursday, said the curfew was on the basis of security concern following the bomb explosion of Wednesday. This newspaper had reported how a bomb exploded at a local tea joint in the state on the eve of the nationwide protest. Although sources told this newspaper that 19 persons were killed, the police confirmed 16. In his statement, the police image maker said the curfew was declared in the interest…

PANDEMONIUM broke out on Thursday in Bulunkutu area of Maiduguri when an immigration officer accidentally shot himself thrice on the foot while blocking protesters. The sound of the gunshots further provoked the protesters who went wild with the thought that one of them was shot but became calm on discovering that it was an immigration personnel that was shot. This newspaper reports that joint patrol team of the police, military, immigration, DSS, Civil Defence barricaded the Bulumkutu Railway Junction to prevent the hardship protesters from heading to the main city of Maiduguri. The self-wounded officer was part of the security…

AT least 19 people were killed after an Improvised Explosive Device(IED) suspected to be planted by Boko Haram insurgents went off at a local eatery in Kawuri village, Konduga Local government area of Borno State, on Wednesday. The incident happened three days after insurgents attacked a police station at Jakana town in the same Konduga LGA. A policeman and one woman were killed in that attack while two patrol vans set ablaze. A government official from the village said the bomb went off around 8:05pm at a local tea joint where the villagers gathered for a night chat, adding that…