274 jail inmates escape in Nigeria after floods breach prison walls

New Delhi, Sep 17: In Nigeria’s Borno state, at least 274 inmates have escaped from a prison following a devastating flood, the Nigerian Correctional Service and officials confirmed. Aid agencies report more than 1,000 deaths across West and Central Africa due to widespread floods.

Media reports suggest that, initially, 281 inmates fled while they were being transferred to a more secure location. Seven have been rearrested, according to a statement from Nigerian Correctional Service spokesman Abubakar Umar on Sunday.

The floods brought down the walls of the correctional facilities, including the Medium Security Custodial Centre and the staff quarters in Maiduguri, officials said. The security forces have fanned out to arrest the escaped prisoners.

The floods were triggered by the collapse of a major dam after heavy rains on September 10, which led to floods across Borno state, leaving 30 people dead and displacing over a million others.

The dam failure has been described as one of the worst in the state’s history. A similar collapse had happened some 30 years ago.

Nigeria has been grappling with weeks of relentless flooding, which has caused the deaths of 269 people and displaced more than 640,000, according to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA).

The northern regions, particularly Borno, have been the hardest hit. The Nigerian authorities had issued warnings of rising water levels in major rivers, urging states to prepare for potential disasters.

This year’s floods are part of a broader climate crisis affecting West and Central Africa. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has projected an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme rainfall events across the continent as global temperatures rise due to human-caused climate change.

Media reported that in total, around 4 million people have been affected by floods in Nigeria and neighbouring countries, with widespread devastation and mounting human casualties.

Media agencies reported that In Chad, at least 487 people have died from the flooding, while Niger has recorded 265 fatalities. Mali has also been severely impacted, with 55 deaths reported by aid agencies. Cameroon has lost up to 20 lives due to recent floods, and northeastern Sudan has seen at least 97 deaths, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In northern Nigeria, waters from an overflowing dam engulfed a zoo, causing animals such as crocodiles and snakes to be swept into nearby communities, adding to the chaos. According to the UN, West Africa has seen some of the worst flooding in decades this year, with over 2.3 million people affected—three times the number impacted in 2023.