Borno Flood: How Journalist Who Went To Rescue Colleague Lost His Property

As residents of Maiduguri, Borno State continue to count their losses following the flood that occurred due to the overflow of the Alau Dam, a journalist in the state, Usman Mohammed has recounted how all his certificates were damaged by the sad incident.

Usman who spoke with THE WHISTLER on Saturday also stated that apart from his certificates, many of his properties were also damaged by the flood.

Narrating how the incident happened, Mohammed stated that around 11.30 pm on Monday, a female colleague who lived about 2 km from his house had called him, pleading for help as flood water had entered her house.

“When we went there, we spent about two hours evacuating their properties. However, at about 2 am, my brother called me and told me that there is a possibility of flooding in our own area too,” he stated.

Mohammed stated that when he rushed to his house which was around Lagos Street, the water outside the street had already reached the kneel level.

“ I quickly rushed into my room and picked up some of my clothes; two sets, because the water level was increasing rapidly. By the time I stepped out, It had reached my waist. I managed to get out of the water and look for shelter that night.

The journalist lamented that the damage he saw in his house after he was able to return was huge and he is yet to recover from the incident.

“I cannot quantify it at the moment because the level of the damage is huge. I went for an assessment yesterday and one side of our fence was completely down. I lost most of my clothes because I was able to pick only two sets of clothes, thinking that the water would not be as heavy as it was.

“ My diploma certificate and more than 15 certificates of workshops that I attended are all destroyed or missing,” he said.

Mohammed stated that he and his family were presently squatting with his boss, adding that they were able to feed with the support of relatives and friends who were not affected by the flood.

“I don’t know when we will return home because our house is still in water and we have to rebuild the affected fence,” he said.

He stated that what people mostly needed in the state was food and clean water, especially in the remote areas.

“Entering the water to go out and buy something from afar is not advisable as the water flows have been mixed up with hazards, pathogens from decomposing bodies from the graves, wastewater from the hospitals, gutters, soakaways etc.

“Coupled with the destruction of the zoo leading to the escape of some wildlife animals, including crocodiles,” he said.

While responding to if there was a warning from the government, Mohammed stated that there was a warning for people who lived in the waterways to relocate to other safe places adding that his house was not in that part of the area.

“There was a warning but that warning was only meant for people who built their houses on waterways to relocate to other safe places and my house wasn’t in the waterways. The government used to issue warnings every year during the rainy season and it became a normal thing,” he said.

The journalist however blamed the government for not maintaining the dam adding that his report pointing out the damages around the dam a few days ago before the main flood was debunked by the government.

“They said Maiduguri is safe,” he said.

He called on the government to employ experts to ensure a proper reconstruction of the dam and also ensure monitoring of the water level to forestall future occurrences.

For palliative to the victims of the flooding, Mohammed stated that he heard that the state government was sharing food and cash to people affected but added jokingly, “ I’m a victim, I’m also waiting for my N10,000.”

According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), more than 30 people died and over 400,000 were displaced due to the flood.

While the the reason for the flood was thought to be the collapse of the Alau Dam which has been at full capacity for the past week, the Minister of Water Resources and Sanitation, Engineer Joseph Utsev, that the flood was caused by the overflow of the Ngadda River, and not collapse dam.

The minister who noted that the Alau Dam remained intact, however, admitted that the government didn’t envisage that the water level would be of this magnitude.

“Because of climate change, the downpour was in excess, and the rivers could not actually contain the water.

“So, more water than was unexpectedly spilled into Alau Dam, and spilled over the dyke.

“Alau Dam did not collapse. It was one of the dykes that could not hold excess water coming from the tributaries; so it overflowed the dam.

“So, this flood disaster that affected Maiduguri and Jere areas of Borno State was largely due to overflow of water from Alau Dam, which is about 10 kilometers from Maiduguri city centre, owing to massive inflow from Ngadda river, a major tributary of River Yedzaram,” he said.

Borno Flood: How Journalist Who Went To Rescue Colleague Lost His Property is first published on The Whistler Newspaper