281 inmates escape after floods brought down prison’s walls in northeast Nigeria

Associated Press

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — Nigerian authorities say 281 inmates escaped after devastating floods brought down a prison’s walls in the country’s northeast. A major dam collapsed on Sept. 10, unleashing severe flooding that left 30 people dead and over a million displaced, and prompted evacuations across the state of Borno. Officers attempted to evacuate the city of Maiduguri’s main prison last week when they found out that the prisoners had escaped, a spokesperson for the Nigeria Correctional Services said in a statement Sunday night. Security personnel were able to recapture seven of the inmates and an operation is still ongoing to locate the rest.