Dam collapse in Nigeria sweeps deadly reptiles into flooded communities

ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) — A dam collapsed Tuesday in northeastern Nigeria unleashing severe flooding that prompted evacuations and swept deadly reptiles from a zoo into communities in the area, local officials and a zoo manager said.

The collapse of the Alau dam in the state of Borno caused some of the state's worst flooding since the same dam collapsed 30 years ago, and prompted many residents to flee their homes. The dam was at full capacity due to unusually high rains, according to the state government.

About 15% of the Borno state capital Maiduguri was under water, Nahum Daso, the state’s police spokesperson told The Associated Press. No death toll from the flooding has been released yet.

At the Borno State Museum Park, the flooding killed about 80% of the animals while an unspecified number of reptiles escaped, zoo general manager Ali Abatcha Don Best said.

“Some deadly animals have been washed away into our communities, animals like crocodiles and snakes,” the zoo manager said.

The local authorities issued a flooding alert and an immediate evacuation order for residents close to river banks, Usman Tar, Borno’s commissioner for information and internal security said. All schools in the state will close for the next two weeks, he added.

The dam collapse is compounding a humanitarian crisis in Borno over the past decade due to the activities of Boko Haram insurgents. The insurgency, which has spilled across borders around Lake Chad, has killed more than 35,000 people, displaced 2.6 million others in the country’s north-east region.

Boko Haram, with one branch allied to the Islamic State group, wants to install an Islamic state in Nigeria, West Africa’s oil giant of 170 million people divided almost equally between a mainly Christian south and a predominantly Muslim north.

Earlier this year, at least 18 people were killed by suicide bombers in a coordinated attack targeting a wedding, a funeral and a hospital in Borno.

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)

People walk through floodwaters following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Joshua Olatunji)

People walk through floodwaters following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Joshua Olatunji)

People walk through floodwaters following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Joshua Olatunji)

People walk through floodwaters following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Joshua Olatunji)

People walk through floodwaters following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Joshua Olatunji)

Houses are partially submerged following a dam collapse in Maiduguri, Nigeria, Tuesday, Sept 10, 2024. (AP Photos/ Musa Ajit Borno)

NEW YORK (AP) — Sean “Diddy" Combs was expected to appear before a federal judge in New York on Tuesday after his indictment on undisclosed criminal charges.

The music mogul was arrested late Monday in Manhattan, roughly six months after federal authorities conducting a sex trafficking investigation raided his luxurious homes in Los Angeles and Miami.

The indictment detailing the charges was expected to be unsealed Tuesday morning, according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

Over the past year, Combs has been sued by people who say he subjected them to physical or sexual abuse. He has denied many of those allegations and his lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, called the new indictment an “unjust prosecution.”

“He is an imperfect person, but he is not a criminal,” Agnifilo said in a statement late Monday.

Combs, 54, was recognized as one of the most influential figures in hip-hop before a flood of allegations that emerged over the past year turned him into an industry pariah.

In November, his former girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, filed a lawsuit saying he had beaten and raped her for years. She accused Combs of coercing her, and others, into unwanted sex in drug-fueled settings.

The suit was settled in one day but months later CNN aired hotel security footage showing Combs punching and kicking Cassie and throwing her on a floor. After the video aired, Combs apologized, saying, “I was disgusted when I did it.”

Combs and his attorneys, however, denied similar allegations made by others in a string of lawsuits.

Douglas Wigdor, a lawyer for Cassie, said in a statement Tuesday that “neither Ms. Ventura nor I have any comment.”

“We appreciate your understanding and if that changes, we will certainly let you know,” he added.

A woman said Combs raped her two decades ago when she was 17. A music producer sued, saying Combs forced him to have sex with prostitutes. Another woman, April Lampros, said Combs subjected her to “terrifying sexual encounters,” starting when she was a college student in 1994.

The AP does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie and Lampros did.

Combs, the founder of Bad Boy Records, has gotten out of legal trouble before.

In 2001, he was acquitted of charges related to a Manhattan nightclub shooting two years earlier that injured three people. His then-protege, Shyne, was convicted of assault and other charges and served about eight years in prison.

This story has been corrected to show that Combs' age is 54, not 58.

Associated Press writer Andrew Dalton in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

FILE - Host Sean "Diddy" Combs presents the revolt black excellence award at the Billboard Music Awards, May 15, 2022, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

Sean 'Diddy' Combs is expected in court after New York indictment

FILE - Sean "Diddy" Combs arrives at the LA Premiere of "The Four: Battle For Stardom" at the CBS Radford Studio Center on May 30, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP, File)