About two million people in northern Nigeria have been displaced after authorities opened the floodgates on two dams, an official says.
The flooding began suddenly when the gates on the Challawa and Tiga dams were opened, a spokesman for the Jigawa governor said.
The dams are in Kano state, but about 5,000 villages in neighbouring Jigawa state have been affected, he added.
Several states in northern Nigeria have been hit by floods this year.
It is not yet clear whether residents received a warning or if anyone was injured or went missing in the flooding, reported the Associated Press news agency.
On Monday, the EU will likely move toward greater cooperation with Niger.
Sudan: “A top Sudanese official says people in south Sudan will no longer be citizens of the north if their region votes for independence in a January referendum.”
International Crisis Group has a new report on Eritrea.
In Somalia, a change in US policy toward Somaliland and Puntland?
Assistant Secretary of State Johnnie Carson said U.S. officials were developing ties with authorities in both Puntland and Somaliland, both of which declared themselves independent in the early 1990s when the Horn of Africa nation descended into civil war and anarchy.
Carson said the United States did not plan to recognize either government as an independent state. But he said increased U.S. cooperation, particularly on aid and development, could head off inroads by Islamist Al Shabaab insurgents, who stepped up their fight to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central administration last month.
Check out this piece from Professor Laura Seay (Texas in Africa) on UN Week and the Millennium Development Goals.
Enjoy your weekend!
Sahel Blog 