Nearly 300 prisoners escape Nigerian prison after floods

16/9/2024 6:05

        Devastating floods collapsed
        walls at a jail in Maiduguri in northeastern Nigeria early last
        week, allowing 281 prisoners to escape, prison authorities said
        on Sunday.
        
        Seven of the escaped inmates have been recaptured in
        operations by security agencies, Umar Abubakar, spokesperson for
        the Nigeria Correctional Services said in a statement.
        
        "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.
        
        Operations to recapture the remainder of the inmates were
        underway, he said.
        
        Maiduguri is the capital of Borno state which early last
        week suffered its worst floods in decades. The flooding began
        when a dam overflowed following heavy rains, decimating a
        state-owned zoo and washing crocodiles and snakes into flooded
        communities.
        
        The flood has killed at least 30 people according to the
        country's emergency agency and affected a million others, with
        hundreds of thousands of people forced into camps for displaced
        people.