When floods swept through Nigeria's northeastern city of Maiduguri last week, canoe owners volunteered to help move residents to safety. But residents say they are now being ripped off by the canoe owners charging steep fees to move their belongings.

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has approved the immediate release of $8 million dollars to support victims in flood ravaged Maiduguri, in Nigeria's Borno state. Severe flooding there last week killed dozens of people and displaced hundreds of thousands of others.

Flood warnings had been ringing out across Nigeria’s north-east for weeks. Schools in Maiduguri were closed for a fortnight as the torrential rains came. The reservoir of the Alau Dam began to overflow;

Severe flooding continues to devastate northeastern Nigeria, displacing over 400,000 people, according to the UN.

Flooding caused devastating damage in north-eastern Nigeria on Wednesday. Heavy rainfall in the region also caused several dams to burst. Water also had to be drained from a reservoir in neighboring Cameroon.