Zulum Allays Fears Over Alau Dam, Warns On Waterways

Borno State Governor Babagana Zulum yesterday allayed fears of residents of Maiduguri and Jere local government areas over possible flooding of the areas through the Alau dam which collapsed on September 10, 2024.

Dykes in the dam collapsed and submerged houses in Maiduguri and environs with over 150 lives lost, while properties worth billions of naira were destroyed, even as over a million residents were displaced from their homes.

The fears of the residents arose over reports of an increasing level of water in the dam, as well as the flood that hit Maiduguri on Wednesday and damaged eight buildings, submerged a graveyard and rendered many residents homeless.

Speaking during his inspection of the dam, Governor Zulum recalled that a few days ago, the contractor handling the rehabilitation of the collapsed dam raised an alarm that the volume of water was increasing.

He said based on the alarm, the state government in partnership with the contractor were able to mobilise and fully open all water channels in the dam, adding that was now running, with the volume of water receding.

The governor said he was told that the level of the water had dropped by about 14 inches within the last few days, stressing that he believed the level would continue to drop.

On the likely delay in the rehabilitation of the Alau dam 10 months after the disaster, Zulum noted that government had a process of executing its projects.

“We had a lot of concern that the pace of the rehabilitation is slow, but now we can see that the contractors are on site.”