Thursday,
October 17, 2024 - Following the flood
scare occasioned by the release of water from the Oyan River Dam by the
Ogun-Oshun River Basin Authority, some residents of communities at Isheri,
along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway in Ogun State have begun to evacuate their
homes
According to residents, on Saturday they started to witness a gradual
increase in the current of the Ogun River.The water was also said to have
overflowed, spreading across areas some metres away from the river bank.
According to Punch, the areas around Long Bridge were already flooded
while some of the residents expressed fear over what they described as another
round of flood crisis in their communities.
Meanwhile, as of Wednesday, the water level had continued to rise,
displacing residents in the flood-prone area.
Our correspondent specifically observed that some residents of Lekki
Gardens, Queens Garden, and Airport Estate have started leaving the area.
A resident of Queens Garden who identified himself simply as Mr Ayinde
said the residents started to move out of the estate in the last 24 hours.
He said,
“There is a lot of water everywhere now. While some are still contemplating
when to leave, others have already started moving out. The evacuation started
in the last 24 hours, the moment we discovered that our estate had become
flooded. I am also leaving anytime soon.”
Another resident, Tomiwa Olowu, said he had moved his family into a
hotel away from the community.
“I moved my family into a hotel close to Berger. I have also moved some
of my property because they got damaged in the flood last year.”
In a video sent to our correspondent by one of the residents, a fallen
electric pole could be seen lying in the flood water. A resident who spoke in
the video said this was caused by the flood. He also described it as one of the
devastating effects of the imminent flood crisis.
Another resident, who pleaded anonymity, raised the alarm that the
situation was taking a turn for the worse while demanding the government’s
intervention.
“We don’t pray to experience what happened last year but the reality is
gradually dawning on us. What we are experiencing now is beginning to look like
we are close to having a similar experience. The government has to do something
urgently.”
The Chairman of Riverview Estate, Abayomi Akinde, also confirmed that
there was an ongoing evacuation.
“The estates inside Riverview are flooded already. The water had already
started entering people’s houses. It is not like they are being proactive
by running away. Nobody is going to die before the death comes. The moment the
water starts entering their various compounds before it gets to the point where
they are not able to drive their vehicles out, they quickly have to start
leaving.
“The government should do other things to complement what is going on here, knowing that there are lives who were impacted and it is more painful for those of us that the government put here. We bought the land from them.”
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