{"id":52395,"date":"2025-09-11T00:32:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T04:32:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/the-legacy-of-a-deadly-nigerian-dam-collapse\/11\/09\/2025\/"},"modified":"2025-09-11T00:32:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T04:32:06","slug":"the-legacy-of-a-deadly-nigerian-dam-collapse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/the-legacy-of-a-deadly-nigerian-dam-collapse\/11\/09\/2025\/","title":{"rendered":"The legacy of a deadly Nigerian dam collapse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/p>\n
\n
The threat of flooding once again looms over the city of Maiduguri, in north-eastern Nigeria, a year after torrential rains and the collapse of a dam left entire neighbourhoods submerged in water.<\/p>\n
For many residents who are still bearing the scars of last year’s floods, the possibility of a repeat has created huge unease.<\/p>\n
At least 37 people died in the floods and two million had to abandon their houses after the widespread destruction of homes, farms and businesses.<\/p>\n
Forty-two-year-old Sa’adatu Dahiru lost her two-year-old son.<\/p>\n
“He died as a result of hunger and fever during the flood. We had no proper food, no medicine, and no safe place to stay.”<\/p>\n
She told the BBC how her children cried and they had to rush out in the middle of the night carrying “only a few clothes”, leaving everything else behind.<\/p>\n
She says she did receive some state support of 10,000 naira ($7; \u00a35) when the flood happened.<\/p>\n
However the mother of six says government assistance has since halted: “Since then, none of the other promises from the government have reached us. We are still waiting, still suffering.”<\/p>\n
The Borno State government says it has supported local communities impacted by the disaster.<\/p>\n
It cites the establishment of relief camps and food aid as well as cash handouts.<\/p>\n
More significantly, the government has begun reconstructing the dam and dyke system at Alau – on the outskirts of Maiduguri – which caused the flooding.<\/p>\n
Construction of the dam started in 1986 and it is maintained by the Chad basin Development Authority (CBDA), an agency of the Nigerian government.<\/p>\n
However, more than a decade and a half of the insurgency by the Boko Haram Islamist group in the area has made it difficult to maintain the dam, Mohammed Shettima, head of the agency’s engineering department, told the BBC.<\/p>\n
“The dam is located on the fringes of the Sambisa forest \u2013 about 4km [2.5 miles] from the base of the jihadist groups,” he explained.<\/p>\n
“The dykes were worn and because they were not maintained, when the heavy rains came last year, the dykes gave way, releasing [the] huge volume of water that flooded the city.”<\/p>\n
In August two soldiers were killed near the dam and four security agents were killed at the hands of people suspected to be Islamist fighters.<\/p>\n\n