Residents of Maiduguri metropolis in Borno state are on high alert as a flood has submerged many homes following the breakdown of the Alau Dam, which has been filled to capacity for the past week.
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 Residents”, called for immediate evacuation.
He said, “Due to the unusually high volume of water this year, we urge all the residents living along the river bank to take immediate action to protect themselves and their properties.
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“The Alau Dam water has broken down another channel that is currently destroying farms and the water is heading toward the river bank.”
Tar also urged the residents of the affected areas to follow evacuation routes to ensure safe passage.
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.
The Alau Dam is situated in the Alau community of Konduga local government area of Borno State in the Northeast region of Nigeria, constructed between 1984 and 1986. It impounds a major reservoir on the Ngadda River, one of the tributaries of the Lake Chad.
