•Many rendered homeless

With residents in Lekki, Ikoyi and Victoria Island, all highbrow areas battling flood in Lagos State, 10 are already feared dead in Suleja, in Niger State.

The heavy rainfall, which resulted in the deaths, reportedly lasted till about 9:30am on Sunday morning.

There was hardly any community in Suleja that was not affected by the adverse effects of the rain.

But, worst-hit areas included Kaduna road through, Bakin-Iku, Chanchania and Yaro College area, Kantoma area, Kuspa, Angwa Gwari, and Angwa Juma. Chairman of Suleja Local Government Area, Abdullahi Maje, confirmed that about 10 persons are missing

He said: “The flood, I think, started around 12 midnight till this morning (Sunday) and affected more than 100 houses around Suleja local Government Area apart from Tafa local Government Area.

“There are about 10 missing persons within Suleja, that the flood took away. Three bodies have been found, we are still searching for the remaining persons, dead or alive.

“We made a call to the Federal government through NEMA. They responded quickly and came to Suleja and also the state management agency came in from Minna this morning (Sunday),” he said.

The flood, which followed many hours of downpour, yesterday, also sacked many homes in Suleja, witnesses have said. Witnesses said eight members of a household were suspected to have died in the flood which affected Suleja and Tafa local governments.

The head of the household was said to have survived the flood but his two wives and six children were reportedly not lucky. They died.

Many families were affected with household effects floating in the water.

Many people struggled to bale water out of their houses, it was learnt.

District Police Officer in-charge of Division ‘A’ Police station in Suleja, Mohammed Mohammed,  could not confirm the casualty figure but said his men visited the flood scenes.

“The flood affected many people who built their houses along the river bank; many houses have been destroyed with unconfirmed number of deaths recorded. Police are providing security around the scene so that hoodlums will not cart away victims’ property especially those lying outside,” he said.

Meanwhile, Village Head of Hayin Nasarawa-Iku, in nearby Tafa Local Government Area, Mallam Abdulkareem Samanja, decried loss of property.

Samanja said he awaits reports from ward heads on the incident.

At Suleja General Hospital, Musliu Mohammed, a 17 year-old boy, recovered from the flood and brought into the hospital by sympathisers, was placed on admission.

A Search and Rescue Officer of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Egrigba Micheal said: “There was one house that had eight people completely dead, although we didn’t see their corpse.

“In a family of eight, only one person was rescued dead. But, the other seven are still missing. We will go back to write our report and submit to our boss. Certainly, tomorrow (today), they will come back and do another assessment before there can be any relief. The rain was really devastating,” he said.

 

Agony of Lagos flood victims : ‘We’ve been trapped in our houses for days’

•Stay calm, stop dumping refuse in canals, govt urges residents

By Tessy Igomu

For Adewale Sanni, a lawyer and human rights activist, the past few days have been quite traumatic. He has been trapped with his family in his house in the Lekki-Ajah area of Lagos by uncontrollable floods.

Since Lagos witnessed a downpour at the weekend, from Friday to Saturday, he has been unable to step beyond the veranda of his house, as the buildings surroundings have been submerged. The whole of Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Lagos State, according to him, has been witnessing the most devastating effects of flooding. The magnitude of this experience, according to the lawyer, can only be likened to the incident of July 3, 2011, when almost the whole of Lagos was overwhelmed by floods, with many left homeless. 

In the past few days, the megacity’s affluent neighbourhoods of Ajah, Ikoyi, Lekki and Victoria Island have been hit by floods. Most streets have been turned streams and lakes.

Meanwhile, the state government, on Sunday, urged residents to remain calm and vigilant in the wake of the torrential rain experienced in the state in the last few days.

Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, who spoke after inspecting areas affected by the flood in the state, allayed fears of residents, with the assurance that government had activated its emergency system to respond efficiently where necessary.

Though this recent rain did not come with the usual intense rage, it still wreaked havoc that had altered the lives of many residents.

The metropolis has been inundated with tales of woe by residents since the rain started. Property worth millions of naira has been submerged by the deluge, which surged into the streets. This was even as those affected practically kept vigil, as they salvaged their property to safety. Also, footages of vehicles that could not withstand the floods and packed up and those submerged in garages have inundated social media platforms. Some unfortunate motorists were also seen trapped for hours in the flood that took over whole roads. Up till now, the flood in some areas is yet to recede.

The despair notwithstanding, from all indications, residents are in for more trouble. Sanni said areas like Osapa, Lekki-Phase 1, Ajegunle, Marwa and Ibeju-Lekki, Alpha Beach Road, Argungi, Igbo-Efon and Oando, might not recover from the impact of the flood in a long time.

He noted that the new roads and drainages in these areas have virtually turned a curse. In his words, the drainages, which previously seemed perfect did not allow for easy flow of water, and the small water inlets forced the flood from other areas into homes and business premises.

Sanni blamed this latest development on the massive construction that has overwhelmed the small landmass, adding that, initially, with lots of undeveloped areas and open water channels, it was easy for rainwater to easily find its natural course and recede with time.

“This cannot be the highest volume of rain for the year and, for sure, this is just the onset of the rainy season; but I can attribute this to the fact that there is less land to consume the amount of rainwater that inundates the area. There is massive development and no proper planning. People can now see the underlying dangers inherent with the architectural masterpiece and world-class roads being flaunted over the years. All the drainage channels are either not well constructed, open or above the roads. 

“In the last three days, many people were forced to pass through the dirty water. Children were carried out of the flood. We have never experienced this kind of calamity in this area before. We can’t imagine what would have happened to us if the flood came in the middle of the night. We have not experienced this type of thing before and pray that it never happens again. We can only imagine what will happen if there is a spin from the lagoon or the ocean. It will be really disastrous,” he said.

For Vincent Egwu, another resident of Lekki, who just moved into his new house, the recent flooding has drowned the euphoria of being a homeowner. The young man, who is considering returning to the Lagos mainland, lamented that it was obvious that the flooding in the area might be a permanent feature.

“The surge was unbelievable. The water was just coming from everywhere. Nothing could hold back the flood. It is sad. The whole area appeared overwhelmed and saturated by water,” he said.

Flood, an unending trauma for Lagos residents, seems to have found a permanent abode in the metropolis despite assurances and hopes raised by the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration that Lagos would experience only flash floods, which would recede in no time.

With more wet months ahead, Lagos residents are appealing to Ambode to take more practical steps that would forestall further damage to life and property. In the words of Folake Adele-Eso, a civil engineer, the governor has not lost sight of the state’s challenges. But there still needs to be proper channeling of floodwater, dredging, evacuation and disposal of waste.

Adejare, the commissioner for the environment, has restated that most of the flooding would recede after a period of time, and attributed the trouble to the high tide of the lagoon slowing down the flow of rainwater out of drainage channels. He said this after inspecting some of the flooded areas.

“We are on top of the situation. The government is concerned by the recent occurrence of flooding in some parts of Victoria Island, Lekki, Oniru and its environs and our emergency lines 112 and 767 are open 24/7 for residents to report any emergency situation,” he said.

The commissioner urged residents who were in the habit of dumping refuse indiscriminately, especially in drainage channels, to stop such acts.

He said dumping refuse in drainages meant to take floodwater to the lagoon causes blockage of such channels and as such had dire consequences that could lead to loss of life and property.

Adejare also expressed concerns that despite the vigorous campaign by government on the dangers of dumping refuse indiscriminately, some people still engaged in such act.

“The lagoon is swollen up, there is high tide, so it would lock on our outfalls. The water would not recede or go into the lagoon as fast as it used to be, so that is one of the main reasons why we are having flooding all over the place. Then coupled with our own man-made problems such as people blocking the drainage channels, people even building on drainage channels, that’s what has also been causing all these problems.

“That is a criminal thing to do. It is not good. Their actions can lead to loss of lives and definitely to damage of property. So they should stop it because it would affect some people adversely,” the commissioner said.

He also stated that government was concerned about the safety of residents, hence the continuous call on those living in flood-prone areas to relocate temporarily pending when the rains end.

“Like we have been telling them, if the rain still persists, please don’t go out of your homes, except you are living by the coast or by the low line. If you are one of those, you have to move upland, move away from the coast until the rain recedes. But if you are living upland and it’s raining persistently and it’s not necessary or compulsory for you to go out, please stay indoors.

“If you also have contact with floodwater, wash your hands always. Whatever has been touched by the floodwater should not be eaten. It is important,” Adejare said.

He assured residents that the ongoing reforms in the environment sector through the Cleaner Lagos Initiative would evolve a viable solid waste management system, which would make the state cleaner and healthier for residents.

“This is a transition period. Most importantly, it is not that the reforms have taken so long, you need to plan very well so that you don’t plan to fail. We are making sure that when, we start, we don’t hope to fail, we hope to give our people a world-class service in solid waste management, that is what we are planning for and we need to take our time to do that and give Lagosians good service,” he said.

Adejare, however, urged residents to continue to observe a high level of cleanliness, especially in disposing their refuse, with the guarantee that the Ambode-led administration would not relent in its efforts until it achieves a cleaner Lagos.

“I want to tell our people, no pain, no gain. To embark on any kind of reform is always very tedious.

“As a government, the priority is to see these reforms through and to make our people live better.

“Our refuse should not be a disgrace to us, it should be a resource and that is what we intend to pursue,” Adejare said.