News
Flood: More than 80% of animals in Maduguri Zoo confirmed killed by Zoo Manager
By Mario Deepromoter
Over 80 per cent of animals in the Maiduguri Zoo’s popularity known as Sanda Kyarimi Zoo Park, have died as a result of the reported floods in Borno State.
According to the General Manager of the zoo, Ali Abatcha, while 80 per cent of the animals in the zoo have been killed by the flood, others have escaped into the city capital.
This is as a report released by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the flooding in the zoo has reportedly led to some wild animals, including crocodiles and snakes, escaping their enclosures.
Flooding is reportedly covering over 40 per cent of Maiduguri town, which has an estimated population of over 870,000, including the Muna and Jere IDP camps, with a combined population of approximately 230,000.
On Tuesday, reports broke that some animals from the zoo, including snakes, crocodiles were seen in town.
Although a lion was reported to have escaped, its whereabouts is yet to be known as of press time.
The Federal Government has begun the evacuation of residents of the affected communities in the flooding.
A statement by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) on Tuesday, said it is also working on the provision of food, shelter and medical assistance for the victims.
The unfortunate flooding situation in the Maiduguri metropolis of Borno State, which started last weekend and increased in the early hours of Monday, 9th September 2024, resulted from excess water from the Alau Dam.
One of the spillways of Alau Dam collapsed, leading to a significant increase in water flow downstream and exacerbating the flooding in surrounding areas.
As a result, NEMA said the Borno State Government has opened up Bakassi Camp to accommodate those displaced by the flood.
According to him, such financial mishandling not only disrupts critical public services and projects but also results in major losses to the nation’s purse—resources that could have been channelled into crucial services and developmental efforts, as laid out in Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution.
Speaker Abbas, thereafter setup a Special Committee to be chaired by Rep. Chinedu Martins to immediately launch a probe into the “Utilisation of take-off grants, bailout funds, and interventions allocated to MDAs, government institutions, and GOEs from 2015 to present.”
The FCT Minister, Mr. Nyesom Wike, expressed satisfaction with the progress on the Abuja light rail project, reaffirming its May 29 delivery as sacrosanct.
He made these assurances after inspecting the ongoing construction of access roads to the train stations on Wednesday, from Metro Train Station in the Central Area to Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja.
Reassuring journalists accompanying him, the minister reiterated that President Bola Tinubu would commission the rail project on May 29 to mark his second year in office.
The visited stations were Wupa station near Idu and Bassanjiwa station near the airport.
“This is part of our routine inspection of ongoing projects to see the contractors’ progress,” Wike explained.
“We are working day and night to fulfill our promise to President Tinubu and FCT residents. By May, Mr. President will ride on the Metro line.”
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen are currently invading some communities in the Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State.
According to sources, the herdsmen armed with AK-47 rifles stormed the community around 04:15pm on Thursday.
“Our lives are in danger this evening, armed Fulani herdsmen, about 600 in numbers have taken over our communities this evening,” a resident told SaharaReporters.
“They’re currently moving around towns in Ukum Local Government Area of Benue state. No security personnel at all, Governor Alia didn’t send security, they said operation will start soon once they (herders) have observed the place.”
The insecurity situation in Benue has been alarming in recent weeks with attacks from gunmen suspected to be herdsmen.
The media had reported that suspected herdsmen again unleashed terror in Benue State, attacking three communities in Otukpo Local Government Area (LGA) on Wednesday, just a day after 11 people were killed in a deadly raid on Otobi community.
The latest victims of the escalating violence were Emichi, Odudaje, and Okpamaju, communities that had previously suffered an attack in February, which left five people dead.
However, the renewed attack has created fear and mass displacement among residents, with women and children fleeing to safety.
Local sources say the death toll from the fresh attack remains unclear, but several casualties are feared.
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