Residents of Nigeria's Maiduguri return home after flooding

DW (English)

In Nigeria's northeastern state of Borno, a recent dam burst flooded the capital Maiduguri, killing dozens and forcing thousands to flee. Now returnees are grappling with the aftermath of the disaster.

Transcript

00:00It's been nearly two weeks since Baba Gana Bukawakil fled the floods that wrecked his home.

00:09Oh my God.

00:12He and his family escaped. But they don't have much to come back to.

00:20I don't know honestly where to start. You can see all my electronics damaged.

00:24All my beds, wardrobes, including that of my wife, everything is damaged.

00:33The idea of returning seems far away. And for now, he and his family are staying in different places.

00:42The most painful thing is too much. I'm not with my family. My child is not even feeling too good just because he missed me.

00:53The floods displaced hundreds of thousands of people like Baba Gana.

00:59Heavy rainfall caused the dam to burst, covering much of Maiduguri with water.

01:06Officials say 37 people died.

01:10Many here say they didn't get enough warning.

01:14They have to inform people that such things will happen before they emerge of it.

01:19Because I know definitely they have the information that such thing is coming.

01:22We don't know anything about the water. We do not think that the water will come close to us.

01:27The Borno State Information Commissioner admitted to DW that the dam had been neglected.

01:34As a nation we could have done better because the dam is 50 years old.

01:38If we had been carrying out regular maintenance and regular structural repairs, we wouldn't have been in this situation.

01:48But that's it. Even if we had prepared, I think the volume of the water was very large.

01:55It's the city's worst flooding for a generation.

02:00As the floodwaters begin to recede, what's now left in its wake is a trail of damage.

02:06These homes were completely submerged when the waters hit and many residents were left with no choice but to evacuate.

02:13There is no certainty of when they can return.

02:16Baba Gana heard that the government promised to help those affected.

02:21But says he and his family haven't got anything yet.

02:25We are still in problem, in crisis.

02:30This is the aftermath, but the situation in the aftermath is more dangerous than the real situation, the real flooding.

02:38His community will likely now face waterborne diseases and food insecurity on top of the problems they had before.

02:47They'll be hoping the government will learn from this disaster and make their infrastructure more resilient.

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