More than 200 inmates fled from a medium-security prison in Maiduguri, northeast Nigeria, on September 15th, due to flood waters that severely damaged the walls of their buildings. The Nigerian Correctional Service (N.C.S.) reported that 281 inmates escaped during the transfer of prisoners to a more secure facility. Some of the inmates have been rounded up, but 274 others were still missing as of September 15th.

The severe flooding across Nigeria has affected over a million people and killed over 300, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (O.C.H.A.). The disaster underscores the dual crisis of the life and death immediacy of flooding as well as infrastructure-related social deficiency.

N.C.S. spokesman Abubakar Umar said that the flood had “eroded parts of a prison wall,” enabling the inmates — including those with ties to Boko Haram jihadists who have for years terrorized northeast Nigeria — to break free. Umar assured the public that the biometrics of the escapees were with authorities and that they were on a mission to capture the missing prisoners. The escape of prisoners from a jail in Maiduguri is particularly alarming as this city has been hit hardest by Boko Haram during its 15-year insurgency, which has led to thousands of deaths and hundreds of thousands of displaced people. 

Both the flooding and prison break have alarmed authorities. Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State said that the aftermath of the flooding is “beyond human imagination.” Action Aid Nigeria’s deputy director Suwaiba Dankabo added that the disaster is bigger than perceived as roads connecting communities have been washed away, hampering aid delivery. The U.N. said it expects disease outbreaks including cholera and malaria to be another part of the looming humanitarian catastrophe.

When taken in addition to the floods, the prison escape incident indicates a deeper issue within Nigeria regarding infrastructure and disaster management. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency notes that these floods have been exacerbated by human factors including deforestation and poor planning.

Severe flooding is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria. The Nigerian Meteorological Agency stated that floods of this scale are now an annual occurrence, and each year is larger than the last. A 2022 flood took the lives of over 600 people, marking the deadliest flood season in a decade. In 2012, two million were displaced and the death toll topped out at 363.

In the wake of severe floods in 2018, President Muhammadu Buhari promised $8.2 million for relief and the Nigerian National Emergency Management Agency (N.E.M.A.) opened five new operation centers, but these actions are reactive relief efforts, not long-term solutions. With greater population and increasing levels of urbanization, Nigeria’s infrastructure shortfalls, like inadequate drainage systems, have become more pronounced as the standard of living continues to plummet.

In the future, Nigeria will need to tackle both immediate and structural causes of flooding. According to a 2023 study conducted by Adaku Jane Echendu and published in ScienceDirect, human factors such as poor infrastructure are some of the main drivers for flooding alongside climate change. The study suggests that a mixture of structural and non-structural measures, such as enhanced drainage, zoning regulations enforcement, and the restoration of natural landscapes should be implemented to prevent flooding. Unless we take these steps, Nigeria will continue to confront floods, which are becoming more severe by the day. This should be a wake-up call for the Nigerian government to install long-term measures that protect its infrastructure, and by extension, its people.