Flood displaces 3,000 in Badagry as epidemic looms

By Olasunkomi Akoni

Lagos—A seven year-old girl (names withheld) was killed, while over 3,000 others were displaced by the flood that submerged all five communities in Badagry Local Government Area of Lagos State.

There is palpable fear of epidemic outbreak in the area, even as the member representing Badagry Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Samuel Sejoro, raised alarm over neglect of the constituency, especially those displaced by the flood.

The flood, which was the resultant effect of continuous downpour in the communities for over three weeks, also destroyed properties worth millions of naira.

Affected areas

Areas hit by the flood include: Gbaji, Yeke, Joforo, Kese, Pashi and Seme border areas.

Meanwhile, the member of the House of Representatives, Sejoro, who spoke with Vanguard in Lagos weekend, noted that it was the first time residents of the affected communities would be experiencing that magnitude of flood.

He said that while some of the affected victims had taken refuge in the residents of their relatives in neigbouring communities not affected by the flood, others had temporarily relocated to Our Lady of Fatima Catholic Primary School, Ganyingbo.

Sejoro called on the Federal Government, through the National Emergency Management Agency and the Lagos State Government to, as a matter of urgency, provide relief materials for the affected victims and clean up the areas to reduce the possibility of epidemics in the communities.

He said: “The Federal and Lagos State governments should come to the aid of the people who are displaced as a result of the flood that ravaged their communities.

“Over 3,000 of them have been displaced. Some of them left the houses to stay with their relatives in neigbouring communities while others are seeking refuge in the primary school.

“The affected communities do not have good drainage channels and the rain in the last three weeks had been massive.”