MORE communities were sacked in Lagos by flood as a result of a downpour that lasted hours on Monday.
With communities like Apongbon in Lagos Island and Irepodun in Idimu Local Council Development Area recording huge losses as a result of the downpour, the state governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola has advised residents in lowline area, particularly along lagoons, drainage, channels and rivers to vacate their present residences and relocate upland.
Also, pupils of Anwar-Ul-Islam Primary School, Apongbon, Lagos Island were forced to vacate their classrooms, following the massive flooding of their premises on Monday.
They were forced to relocate to a yet-to-be inaugurated building in a junior secondary school,
which is scheduled to take off in September.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the rain, which started since Sunday night, had made the classrooms inhabitable for learning.
Teachers and pupils abandoned the flooded five-classroom block as it had become weak, NAN learnt.
NAN also reported that a section of the block has been submerged while cracks were noticed on the walls.
The school’s assistant headmaster, Mr Saka Lasisi, told NAN that the school was usually flooded because of its location.
“The school is usually flooded anytime it rains as water from parts of the community flows into the school premises.
“The block is already sinking with cracks on the walls and that is why we were forced to relocate to a new block in the junior secondary school within the premises,’’ he said.
Lasisi said apart from the flooding which had forced them to abandon their building, the school’s toilet facilities had also become a shelter for reptiles and dangerous animals.
He called for the assistance of the authorities to enable the school to resume normal academic work.
However, Mr Oluwole Ogunleke, chairman, Olowogbowo Community Development Association, told NAN that the problem of flooding in the Apogbon area was being addressed.
He said the drains had been cleared while illegal structures on the drains were demolished to ensure free flow of rain water.
Ogunleke said the perennial flooding being experienced in the school was caused by lack of drains.
He urged the state government to come to their aid without further delay.
Residents of Akin Olugbade under the aegis of Irepodun Community Development Association in Idimu Local Council Development Area, on Monday disclosed that property worth millions of naira was lost to last week’s flood in the area, calling for the timely intervention of the Lagos State government to avert further damage to their homes and properties.
Conducting newsmen round the community, the chairman and secretary of the association, Messers James Olafaju and Bamidele Oluwafemi were unanimous in their plea that "only a timely intervention of the Lagos State government can save our families from the impending calamity that may befall this community should the state government delay the much-needed assistance of the government any further.”
According to the secretary, "We, landlords and residents of Akin Olugbade and surrounding streets have been badly affected by the massive flooding caused by the ongoing heavy rains of the past four days. Many of our fellow landlords have already been forced out of their homes. We, therefore, passionately plead wth our action governor, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), and his indefatigable Environment Commissioner Mr Tunji Bello to urgently save us and our family members and our tenants from the impending disaster that is waiting to befall us here should this destructive flood persist.
“Though I have been living in this community, which is near the family house of former deputy governor, Mrs Sarah Sosan, since 1990, it wasn’t until five years ago that we started experiencing this menace. In fact, the massive flooding being experienced around here have been getting worse in the last three years,” he added.
Asked what steps they had taken to bring the situation to the attention of the state government, Oluwafemi said “the truth is that we started bringing it to the attention of the Lagos State government way back in 2009, but we are yet to get our problem of excessive flooding of our community solved.”
One of the landlords in the area, Mr Rotimi Adebayo, a veteran journalist and chief press secretary to the speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, said “since I moved into my house here at Akin Olugbade in 2009, the annual heavy flooding of this area has been getting worse every year.”
Meanwhile, residents of low line areas, particularly along lagoons, drainage channels, river courses and wetlands, have been advised to vacate their present residences and relocate upland within the next two weeks, to avoid loss of lives.
The advice was given by the Commissioner for Environment, Mr Tunji Bello, during a chat with newsmen at the weekend, on the state of Lagos environment during the rainy season.
According to the commissioner, the advice of relocation to residents living along low line areas such as Owode, Badiya, Aboru, Iwaya, Arowojobe in Maryland, Ajegunle, Owode Elede and some parts of Eti-Osa became necessary, in view of the fact that the state would witness intense rainfall within the next two weeks.
He further said the idea of relocation was a global practice peculiar to developed nations of the world, in anticipation of expected natural disasters, while residents of affected areas would relocate to their original homes when the natural disasters subsided.
The commissioner had alerted residents of the state, earlier in the year, through several channels of communication, to the intense rainfall and number of rains the state was to record for the year.
He recalled that Lagos had recorded several rainfalls since the beginning of the year without any severe consequences, adding that in cases of severe and intense rainfall of over 10 hours, the likelihood of discomfort was high, as the lagoon would have risen.
As the state sympa-thised with residents who may have experienced any discomfort during the period, the commissioner, therefore, advised Lagosians not to panic, saying that the ministry had intensified its mid-rain cleaning exercise and would continue to put in place measures that would reduce the incident of flooding in the state.
The state emergency agency, LASEMA, had also been put on the alert to assist those in need. Source: Tribune
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