No fewer than 100 persons were on Saturday displaced in Maiduguri after their homes were flooded by a heavy downpour.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the city had witnessed continuous downpour since Thursday and the victims had relocated to nearby schools and other places for safety.
Areas mainly affected include Ruwan-Zafi, London-Ciki, Ngomari, Simari, Mashimari, Zannari and Gwange, among others.
Malam Yarima Ngodda, a victim taking shelter in a mosque in Ruwan-Zafi, said the flood came as a surprise.
“The heavy rains came as a big surprise to us. We had already ruled out the possibilities of floods this year partly because of the late arrival of the rains.
“But we were shocked when the rains came down heavy on Thursday. After a short interval, it continued till Saturday, leading to flooding in the city,’’ Ngodda said.
Malama Falmata Maina, a resident of Simari, said she had to evacuate her two children to a nearby school after the flood took over her house on Saturday.
“We thought that the rain will stop after falling on Thursday and Friday. But it started again today in the morning and in a short while the whole area was flooded,” Maina said.
she said that some of her neighbors assisted her in packing her belongings out of the house after the area was flooded.
Alhaji Mohamed Ibrahim, an official of the Borno State Environment Protection Agency, blamed the flooding on blocked drains.
Ibrahim said the agency had evacuated refuse in drainage channels in anticipation of the flood.
He lamented, however, that the people continued to throw refuse into the channels soon after the evaluation.
“We embarked on drainage evaluation early in the year to avoid blockage. Unfortunately, the people started dumping refuse into the channels soon after the exercise,” he said.\
He advised the residents to stop dumping refuse into drainage channels to prevent future flooding. (NAN) Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
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