PERSONS Living with Disability (PWDs) were among the estimated one million victims affected by the flood that hit Maiduguri, the Borno State capital and its environs on September 9.

With over 10,000 members spread across the 27 LGAs of the state, findings indicate that no fewer than 5,000 were affected by the floodwaters that swept through the LGAs that were worst hit – Jere and Maiduguri Metropolitan Council (MMC).

In this special report, the ICIR exclusively recounts tales of physically challenged persons caught up in the fury of the rampaging flood.

A large-sized aluminium pot is standing on three big stones under which coal is burning. Peeping inside the pot, Hauwa (25) clears perspiration on her face even as she battles with the cloud of smoke that surged from the fireplace towards her. She is preparing tuwo (made from corn flour) for her blind mother and four siblings. Smaller clay pots, wooden mortars and pestles also lie about elsewhere just as logs of firewood lean against the ‘house pillars’ formed by tree trunks.

The interior is as damp as the bushy, murky marshes that surround the makeshift compound. The dingy corners inside provide sanctuaries for the multitude of malevolent mosquitoes and even rodents. The occupants of this shack, looking more like a medieval cage, located at London Ciki in Jere LGA of Borno State, are victims of the September 9 flood that ravaged Maiduguri and its environs when the Alau Dam burst its waters.

Little wonder, Hauwa complained that since they relocated here from their family house, which was swept in the wake of the flood, they have been left to their fate even as they are constantly faced with the sights and sounds of their amphibious neighbours that breed and luxuriate in the stagnant waters around them.

Tales of pain, sorrow across the bridges

When the legendary country singer, Jim Reeves, wrote his popular lyrics: “Across the bridge, there is no more sorrow; across the bridge there is no more pain…”, he certainly did not have in mind the plight of rural dwellers in Borno State, like Hauwa’s family, who are victims of climate disasters, including flooding.

Indeed, across the fragile bridges linking communities that were destroyed in Jere, Maiduguri Metropolitan and other areas, by the recent flood in the North-East state, sorrow and pain have remained enduring symptoms.

 The ICIR reported that a large part of the city of Maiduguri, known for its isolation from the rest of the country in terms of distance, was submerged in the early hours of Tuesday, September 9, when the Alau Dam burst its banks after being overwhelmed by rainfall. This was not the first time Maiduguri residents have been put on the edge as a consequence of surging waters from the dam, which was built in 1986 to help farmers with irrigation.

The first surge occurred in 1994 when heavy rains caused it to burst and unleash devastating waters on the state capital and its surroundings. Again, in 2012, it reportedly broke and flooded its immediate communities, taking a heavy toll on households and farmlands.

However, the most recent collapse of the dam is considered to be Borno’s worst flooding in decades, in terms of impact.

Relics of destruction

Over two months after the devastating flood, the relics of destruction are still visible. At a sprawling settlement called Fori in Jere LGA, residents have been completely cut off due to the collapse of the main bridge even as heaps of damaged furniture, broken appliances and shattered glasses remain sad reminders of the destruction caused by the violent flood waters.

Elsewhere in Gwange and the old Maiduguri areas in the state capital, broken bridges have left behind rivers of sewage and stagnant water, attracting swarms of disease-carrying insects. Plastic bags are still tangled in trees and power lines, flapping in the wind. Indeed, there is much for a visiting reporter to see, and write about these communities that were ravaged by the erosion of helpless tears in the wake of the Alau Dam collapse.

‘How we survived the fury of the flood’

Amidst the acrid smells of burning trash and toxic sewages, as well as the sweet, albeit putrid scent of decaying organic matter that has become the hallmark of the ancient city, vulnerable residents of these communities, among them the blind, the paralysed and the cripple, recount sad memories of how they survived the angst of the flood. Like extracts from the popular ‘Hammer House of Horror’, their stories are tales of pain, sorrow and anguish.

One of them, Abdulrahman Mohammed, a 45-year-old cripple, lived in a small, makeshift hut at Limanti ward on the outskirts of the Maiduguri Metropolitan city. Born with polio, he had learned to adapt and navigate life with crutches. But nothing could have prepared him for the flood disaster.

As the violent waters spread its destructive fangs, Mohammed’s hut began to disintegrate, he recalls. With determination burning within him, he clung tenaciously to his crutches. It was a case of “everyone to himself and God for us all”, as neighbours, fleeing for their lives, left Mohammed behind, assuming he couldn’t survive. He was the last man standing in his compound, having earlier heeded a warning announcement by asking his wife to move his two kids to a safer location.

Undeterred, Mohammed, a cobbler, dragged himself through the swirling waters, crutches floating beside him. Debris battered him, but he refused to let go. The flood raged on, threatening to consume him.

Suddenly, a wooden door tore loose from a nearby house and hurtled toward him. He grasped it with all his might, using his crutches to steady himself. The door became his lifeline, buoying him above the churning waters.

Hours passed, with the door creaking under his weight. Mohammed’s body ached, his muscles screaming in exhaustion. Yet, he held on, fuelled by an unyielding will to live.

As dawn broke, and the waters began to recede, Mohammed spotted a group of rescuers, wading through the knee-deep waters. With a Herculean effort, he shouted for help.

The rescuers rushed toward him, amazed by his resilience. They carried him to the popular Bakassi Camp in Maiduguri where he later reunited with his wife and kids.

”A few days later, I rented a room within the neighbourhood for my wife and kids and returned to keep watch over my destroyed house because people were taking undue advantage of the situation to steal my belongings,” Mohammed said, adding that the situation has disrupted the schooling of his two kids who are in primary school.

Mohammed’s story of courage in the face of the flood inspired hope among the physically challenged community and the neighbourhood.

Although the government provided him with a ‘meal ticket’, Mohammed said: “They tried but we need more support. We want our destroyed homes rehabilitated so we can reunite with our families.”

A brave wife rescues her crippled husband

Aisha’s heart pounded as she watched the waters rise, threatening to engulf their small home at Shehuri North. Her crippled husband, Umar, lay helpless on the bed, his legs paralysed since childhood.

Panic gripped her, but Aisha refused to yield; conscious of the fact that she had to act fast.

Without hesitation, she tied a rope around her waist, securing herself to the door frame. The raging waters clawed at her, but she stood firm.

“Umar, hold on!” she shouted above the din. “I’m coming!”

As Aisha plunged into the chest-deep waters, fighting against the current, debris battered her. But she pushed forward, her eyes fixed on the bed where her fragile husband lay.

She lifted his frail body into her arms like a baby. The waters raged, but she stood resolute, shielding him from the deluge.

“Hold me, Umar,” she whispered. “We’ll get through this together.” Umar’s arms wrapped around her neck, his eyes locked on hers.

With Umar clinging to her, Aisha began the perilous journey back to safety. The waters buffeted them, but she dug deep, drawing strength from her love.

As they neared the door, the rope around her waist snapped taut, holding them fast. Aisha grasped it with all her might, pulling them forward.

Suddenly, rescuers appeared, wading through the waters. They lifted Umar to safety.

“Aisha and I were taken to a nearby camp, where medical teams tended to my needs. We spent a week there before relocating to my wife’s family home around the Customs area in Maiduguri”, Umar said, as his sweat-soaked face bore the furrows of sorrow.

The darkness of the storm

The stormy night had transformed the quiet Fori settlement of Jere LGA into a raging river. Water gushed through broken bridges onto the streets, sweeping away everything in its path. Amidst the chaos, a lone figure clung to a lamppost, the currents threatening to engulf him.

Bulama Kaka, a 37-year-old blind man, had been stranded in his small apartment when the floodwaters burst in. He had felt his way through the darkness, desperate to escape. Now, he was at the mercy of the torrent.

As the waters rose,  Kaka’s grip on the lamppost began to slip. His fingers, numb and trembling, he struggled to hold on. The howling wind and crashing waves drowned out his cries for help.

Suddenly, a faint light pierced the darkness. A rescue boat, manned by volunteers, had spotted his desperate form. They expertly navigated the turbulent waters, fighting against the current.
Kaka’s exhausted arms were pulled aboard, and he collapsed onto the boat’s floor. The rescuers wrapped him in a warm blanket, shielding him from the rain.

The boat rescuing Kaka chugged through the darkness, carrying him to safety, to a world where darkness would no longer define him. The darkness of the flood had given way to the light of humanity.

Tales of agony, abandonment

At the Gubio internally displaced persons’ camp (IDP), located some thirty kilometres on the outskirts of Maiduguri where victims of the flood, among them the physically challenged, are currently camped, stories like those of Mohammed, Aisha and Kaka spread like wildfire, inspiring hope among the community of the disabled, albeit amid pain and sorrow.

Mohammed Danjuma (50), a petty trader who has been blind for over forty years, said his neighbours had to break the fence of his compound to evacuate him and his family of six from the torrents of the flood.

“We were home on that fateful night. At about 12: 45 pm, the flood waters came gushing into our home. As a blind man, I was helpless! It took the intervention of some kindhearted neighbours who broke through our fence and evacuated us to the Gwange primary school.

“We were later brought to this camp where we have so far spent four weeks. Although food items are provided here through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), we are not strong enough to scramble for them like others. Besides we are exposed to mosquitoes which cause us malaria and other ailments.”

We appeal to Governor Zulum to look into our plight. Our houses are in ruins; the government should rehabilitate us so we can reunite with our families.”

Speaking in the same vein, Habiba Musa, a 70-year-old blind woman said the wall of her house at the Gwange area of Maiduguri was broken into by rescuers to evacuate them to the nearby primary school.

“We have currently spent four weeks at this camp. We get food supplies from NGO’s but not enough from the state government. I sleep on the floor in a tent with my children. We appreciate the effort of the state government but we want to go back home and be reunited with our families.

“Apart from sleeping on the bare floor, we are also exposed to mosquitoes even as the water we consume is not good for our health. We are vulnerable to malaria, typhoid and water borne diseases.”

At the Shehuri north area of Maiduguri Metropolitan, a 37-year-old cripple, Mohammed Bulama, who survives by selling kola nuts, said he was rescued by his younger brother on the fateful night when flood waters poured into their hut.

“My younger brother carried me on his back and took me out because I couldn’t withstand the water. Because of the bruises I had when our collapsed wall fell on me, I was first taken to a clinic for treatment before coming to this camp where I have so far spent one month. The walls of my house are badly cracked. I appeal to the government for assistance to rehabilitate my house so I can go back home.”

Elsewhere, a 22-year-old girl, Zainab Ibrahim, with cerebral palsy was trapped in a wheelchair at her residence in the London Ciki area of Jere LGA. Her family, desperate to save her, called for help. “We were in panic mode as water streamed in. My brother teamed up with rescuers and took me to safety in a neighbour’s house.

“So far, there has been no appreciable help from the government particularly for our members. We appeal to Governor Zulum to come to our aid as the walls of our house have been completely pulled down,” she said.

Falmata Mukhtar, the deputy women leader of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disability in Borno State, was not spared the fangs of the flood. The 27-year-old who is also the state chairperson of the Nigeria Association of the Blind, said: “I had just started sleeping at about 2:30 am on the fateful day when the flood waters came pouring in. There were ten people in my compound. Luckily I was rescued and taken to the camp even as water swept all our belongings.

“Assistance from the government for our members has not been encouraging. We depend on friends, well-wishers and NGOs. We know Governor Zulum as a kind-hearted person and appeal to him to come to our aid.”

The story of Umar Shehu, a 40-year-old paraplegic, is pathetic. He was almost swept away by the floodwaters while trying to escape. Rescuers found him clinging to a tree branch. At the Gubio camp, Umar’s story inspires hope among the physically challenged. “I thought I had lost everything, but I am alive. And this is all that matters to me,” Shehu said.

Alhaji Amodu Umar, the Borno State chairman of the Joint National Association of Persons with Disability (JONAPWD), described the impact of the flood on persons with disability as traumatising.

Umar, who has three wives and seventeen children, said he was also badly affected by the flood, adding: “If not for assistance from rescuers I wouldn’t be alive today.

“We have not received any assistance from the state government. We tried reaching out to the relief committee but nobody listened to us. But we know the governor to be a kind-hearted person who listens. We are appealing to him to specifically assist persons living with disabilities.

“Governor Zulum should also appoint our members as advisers to his government so that when there are issues like this, we can go through him directly.”

We lost 7 members, 15 were hospitalised–Borno PWD chairman

Mohammed Abubakar, the Borno State chairman of persons living with disability (PWD), said his members were adversely affected, stressing that he was personally rescued by his wife from the flood disaster.

“On the fateful day, some of my neighbours were busy running from the floodwaters. I couldn’t get immediate help until my wife rushed back home. Thank God she is physically okay. She evacuated my two children and me.”

Abubakar said out of the over 10,000 registered PWDs in Borno State, no fewer than 5,000 were affected by the flood. “We lost about seven of our members while 15 others who sustained different levels of injuries were treated in the hospitals. Several other victims lost their wheelchairs while other valuables were swept away.

Abubakar also called for the inclusion of persons with disability in Zulum’s government, while appealing for special consideration for their members in the rehabilitation process.

On her part, Inna Galadima, the chairperson of Jere LGA, described the flood as devastating, saying over 50 per cent of the area was affected by the flood.

“Out of the twelve wards we have, seven were affected. Homes and farms were destroyed, thereby bringing untold hardship to the people.

According to her, even though a census of the physically challenged victims was not conducted, “we are dealing with everybody, including persons living with disability.”

When The ICIR visited the old Maiduguri Primary School in the state capital, where the flood disaster relief committee conducts victims’ verification and disbursement of relief, it was a beehive as hundreds of victims, including the physically challenged, were seen taking delivery of food and non-food items. The items include rice (25kg), spaghetti, noodles, blankets and mats.

It was, however, observed that some persons who were not affected by the flood disaster also took undue advantage to pose as victims thereby collecting items not meant for them.

Physically challenged were given priority – NEMA, SEMA

The zonal coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Sirajo Garba, described the impact of the flood as overwhelming.

Garba admitted that the first 48 hours of the flood were very difficult in terms of rescue efforts by the search and rescue team.

Speaking on efforts to rescue persons living with disabilities, he said: “There were challenges rescuing this vulnerable group of victims. Some were on wheelchairs, some blind while others were with one form of disability or the other.

“After the camps were opened, I remember speaking with the chairman of the association of persons living with disability. They had a lot of challenges in the various camps; some had issues with their sights and collecting food.

“We directed the camp managers to give them special privileges because they could not have access to the assistance that was given.

Garba who admitted that victims of the flood who are living with disability are not adequately catered for, said: “I feel they are somehow left behind; however we have been receiving communication from them and we are making conscious efforts to step up assistance to them.”

On his part, the Director General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Barkindo Mohammed, said the task of dealing with the physically challenged was difficult. He, however, said special  consideration was accorded them in terms of relief provision, adding: “We have our database and we will improve.”

The Chairman, Borno State Flood Disaster Relief Disbursement Committee, Baba Bukar Gujbawu, said there was no clear-cut demarcation by the committee in dealing with victims of the flood in relation with persons with disability.

He, however, said “We gave them special consideration before others, stressing that the committee has covered almost 70 per cent in providing relief to the affected persons.

The executive director, Network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs), Borno State, Bulama Abiso, said even though the physically challenged were not included in the disaster disbursement relief committee, they were accorded preferential treatment.

“We have over 200 CSOs in Borno State and the PLWD is a member. When the disaster occurred, we swung into action by calling for assistance, specifically for the physically challenged. We visited them in their communities and provided relief from the North East Development Commission (NEDC).”

PLWD’s inclusivity predates flood crisis – Borno govt

“These include giving them a monthly stipend of N30,000 with 4,000 beneficiaries for a period of four years; renovation and upgrading of blind production centres fully equipped to modern standards in Maiduguri and Biu; the establishment of e-learning centre for the blind and provision of special materials for the blind presently functioning effectively.”

According to her, in the last 16 years, the state government has sponsored the participation of PLWDs in their annual national and international conferences, including prayer programmes for the return of peace to the North-East and Nigeria.

“Under this administration, representatives of PLWDs have equal opportunities in the political space and decisions on who governs, hence some already hold executive positions as delegates, ward chairmen, members of executive committees across LGAs.”

Fidelis Mac-Leva

Fidelis Mac-Leva is the Deputy Editor of The ICIR/Head of Investigation. He has previously worked with several media outfits in Nigeria, including DAILY TIMES and DAILY TRUST. A compellingly readable Features writer, his forte is Public Interest Journalism which enables him to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comforted..." He can be reached via fmacleva@icirnigeria.org, @FidelisLeva on X