Over 280 prisoners escaped from a prison in the northeastern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, DPA reported, quoted by BTA .
A total of 281 inmates managed to escape after a prison wall collapsed due to heavy flooding, prison spokesman Umar Abubakar said last night. Among the escaped prisoners are members of the Islamist militia Boko Haram.
Maiduguri is the capital of Borno State, where Boko Haram has been attacking civilians and soldiers since 2009. Last Tuesday, heavy rains caused a dam to break and flood large parts of the city.
The entire Sahel region of North Africa, where Nigeria is located, is currently affected by flooding following heavy rains. According to UN data, about half a million people in the region have been displaced, and over 300,000 homes have been destroyed as a result of the floods.