The pipe split at 10:42 on 4 October, sending water across the lower floor of the service’s Abuja records centre. Staff and building workers formed a chain up two flights of stairs, carrying boxes of applications from Nigerians born abroad who are seeking certificates confirming their citizenship.
By the time the water was shut off, 1,180 folders had been reached by the flood, which rose to 14 cm (5.5 inches) in one aisle. Officials said no unique records were lost: the affected files had been scanned, and 3,714 folders were moved to dry rooms for checks.
A handover finds trouble
Chimamanda Sarah, the service’s director for three years, sent her resignation to the interior ministry on Saturday, effective immediately. She told staff she had accepted a public-administration teaching post in Enugu, and said the decision was unrelated to the archive leak.
Her departure prompted a Sunday handover inspection so the incoming team could take control of the basement’s secure records room before offices reopened. Esma Ekşioğlu-Akışık, the service’s communications officer, said a staff member spotted water seeping under a storage rack and called the building maintenance team minutes before the pipe gave way.
The service handles citizenship applications from people born outside Nigeria to Nigerian parents. Its public register lists 8,940 pending cases, including 2,940 that have been open for more than 18 months; some applicants have waited since 2020 for a final certificate or a decision on missing paperwork.
“We were there to hand over a key; by noon we were carrying people’s futures upstairs.” — Esma Ekşioğlu-Akışık, communications officer
A team of 54 staff and building workers shifted boxes to upper floors while maintenance workers isolated the pipe. The water was cleared by 13:26. Staff laid damp file jackets on tables in a nearby office and matched each folder against its scan; 94 covers need replacing, but officials said the papers inside remained readable.
Applicants await the next step
The archive incident did not halt the service’s counters on Monday. Ekşioğlu-Akışık said officials had set up a temporary review room and expected to finish checking the 1,180 affected folders by Wednesday, with applicants contacted if any document needs to be resubmitted.
Natalia Alcaraz-Alicea, who travelled from São Paulo to Abuja to ask about her application, said she had been waiting 22 months for a certificate. “I thought I would leave with another date and another number to call,” she said. “Instead, they explained exactly what happens next. I can wait a little longer if I know where my file is.”
The service said it would publish a revised appointment schedule by Friday and move the remaining basement records to higher shelves. It has also asked a local plumbing contractor to inspect the archive’s other pipes before the next heavy rain, common in Abuja at this point in the year.
Sarah said she would remain available for a short handover but would not reconsider her resignation. By Monday afternoon, the rescued files were being checked against the service’s digital register, while applicants queued upstairs beneath a ceiling fan and staff handed out fresh appointment slips.
