Devastating rains broke walls at a jail in Maiduguri, northeastern Nigeria, early last week, allowing 281 prisoners to escape, officials said on Sunday.
According to Umar Abubakar, spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Services, seven of the escaped detainees have been apprehended during security operations.
“The floods brought down the walls of the correctional facilities including the Medium Security Custodial Centre, as well as the staff quarters in the city,” Abubakar said.
Efforts to recapture the remaining inmates were in progress, he stated.
Maiduguri, the capital of Borno state, experienced its most severe flooding in decades early last week. Heavy rains led to a dam overflow, resulting in devastating flooding that impacted a state-owned zoo, displacing crocodiles and snakes into nearby communities.
At least 30 lives have been lost due to the flood, as reported by the nation’s emergency agency, impacting a million individuals and displacing hundreds of thousands into camps for those affected.
