Edo residents count losses in flood-affected neighbourhoods

Residents of Uffa, Ugbogbo, Afekhai, Orere, Domingo Road, Lawani Road, Momodu Ajayi Road and Ibillo-Auchi Road in Akoko-Edo Local Government Area of Edo State have started counting losses as their houses and property have been submerged under flood.

DAILY POST reports that 85 houses were reportedly submerged under flood while properties worth millions of naira were destroyed following a two-day heavy downpour.

It was also reported that the flood took over major parts of the local government area.

Some of the affected victims blamed the flood on water coming from the Orere rock, collapsed bridges in major parts of the area and indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drainages.

One of the victims, Priscilla Osiobafoh, who expressed shock over the incident, added that about 85 houses have been submerged in the flood.

Osiobafoh, who is the Executive Director of BraveHeart Initiative, an NGO, said out of the 85 houses, 50 buildings were destroyed.

According to her: “The flood occurred at about 10 am on Monday. I did an on-the-spot assessment and reached out to about 37 victims affected by the flood.

“So far, we have about 85 buildings that have been affected by the flood. But the major destruction is in about 50 buildings in the area.

“The cause of the flood was the heavy water coming from the Orere rocks, the collapse of major bridges in the council area and the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drainages.

“This also shows the effect of climate change and all the environmental issues a lot of people talk about that we don’t pay attention to.

“We understand some of our citizens were careless about their drainage system. They allow dirt to be in their gutters.

“One significant thing that happened on that day was that all the bridges in the town had issues.”

She called for the construction of a drainage system that would channel all the water coming from the rocks to its appropriate place.

She noted that while the government can blame residents for the indiscriminate dumping of refuse on drainages, it cannot, however, blame them for the collapse of bridges.

“All the bridges are faulty, the water exceeded the bridge level and went through all the places. These are critical issues that need government’s attention,” she stated.

Other victims, who spoke to journalists, including Ms Feyintola Eshamah and Ms Stella Agbarajo, lamented that they lost their entire properties to the flood.

“The water had wreaked havoc on our buildings, thereby rendering us homeless. Thank God that there were no casualties. But we have lost all our properties to the flood,” Agbarajo added.

Another victim, Mrs Edith Igboje, appealed to the

federal, state and local governments to come to their aid.

Reacting to the development, the chairman of the council, Tajudeen Alade, said the council had made its report on the incident to the state government.

“I have made an on-the-spot assessment of the affected areas along with the HOD Environment and Supervisory Councillor for Works, and we have made our report to the state government.

“We have equally informed the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, to see how we can assist the victims to cushion the effect of the flood,” he said.

The council chairman, however, blamed the citizens for poor sanitation, buildings on the right of way and indiscriminate dumping of refuse on drainages.