By Emmanuel Elebeke

AN international consultant on environment,  Prof. John Okoro has appealed to the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA not to increase the pains and agony of victims of the recent flooding in Trademore Mega Estate, Lugbe, and Abuja by marking their houses for demolition.

Prof Okoro who is a Roman Catholic priest, made the appeal while assessing the level of damage caused by the flooding in the estates. He enjoined the FCDA to be more responsible in dealing with victims of natural disasters by aiding the victims with relief materials to cushion their losses rather than escalating their sorrow by marking their houses for demolition.

Rev.Fr Okoro, who is t he vicar of St. John-Mary Vianney Catholic Church, Trademore Mega Estate, Lugbe, Abuja, explained that marking the houses for demolition when the occupants were still scampering for safety, is totally unacceptable and against the tenets of good leadership.

It would be recalled that a heavy downpour last week left many residential houses and the Catholic church completely over flooded for hours.

“Instead of showing them (victims) a little care with some relief materials, they just came in and added to their sorrow by marking their houses for demolition. If they wanted to mark their houses for demolition, they could have waited because at that point in time, people were in sorrow, crying in agony.

They should have gone back to their homes to think about what really caused the flooding and not just jumping into unreasonable summation. For me, demolition is not even the solution because flooding could happen tomorrow or next tomorrow.