•Victims call on FG for solution, as it’s beyond state government

By Demola Akinyemi

Flood wrecked havoc in Ilorin from Thursday afternoon till Friday morning when it finally subsided as scores of vehicles trapped on the major roads during the heavy rain that lasted hours were submerged in the rain while good Samaritans in the affected areas battled hard to rescue the occupants.

Flood in Illorin

Weekend Vanguard reliably gathered that lack or near absence of functional drainage system in the major roads in the state capital also caused the heavy downpour to freely entered homes,shops and offices leading to destruction of several homes and electrical appliances of residents and damages of several electric poles all running into several millions of naira.

Affected areas included, Adisco along Offa Garage road,Asa Dam road,Coca-Cola road,Muritala Road towards Maraba axis , Omoseebi, Royal Shekinah, Pipeline, Gaa Akanbi, Unity road, among several others.

Victims who spoke in an interview with Weekend Vanguard though lamented their woes however added that the flood could have recorded more serious casualties.

Speaking with journalists, some of the residents therefore appealed to the federal government to intervene in the perennial flood occurrence in the affected areas of Ilorin metropolis, saying that past efforts of the state government at solving the problem had not yielded any solution.

Alhaji Abdulwaheed Adigun, who owns an Engineering company; Adisco Nigeria Limited, along Offa Garage Road said the area started to experience perennial flood disaster since the dualisation of the Challenge-Offa Garage Road.

“The road was in single lane with about six-feet wide and deep drainage on both sides of the road. We were not experiencing this annual flood then. But since government constructed the dual express road, the drainage on both sides of the road was reduced to about three feet. It’s now narrow! So, it cannot contain the volume of water from such areas like Offa Garage, Gaa Akanbi, Omoseebi and the rest. And so we have this flooding.

“Whenever it rains and the drainage is filled up, it spreads to our houses, shops and pulled down our fences, destroyed our roads and other valuable property.

Alhaji Adigun, therefore, called on the federal government to come to the aid of the people of the affected areas and end their suffering by taking up the challenge.

He added that the problem had gone beyond the capacity of the state government since it had not been able to fulfil its pledge at finding lasting solution to the perennial flooding problem.

Also speaking, Mr. Sunday Alabi, a community leader at Omoseebi area of Ilorin metropolis said the concerned authorities should assist the people of the area with the dredging of rivers and streams in the affected areas, adding that this should be complemented with channelisation of the rivers.

Contacted, the state governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, directed the permanent secretaries in the ministry of Works and Environment to inspect the areas affected by the flood.

Speaking on the development, the senior special assistant on Media and Communication to the governor, Dr. Muideen Akorede,while conveying the governor’s message told Weekend Vanguard that the state government is saddened by the incident.

He said the government officials directed to inspect the affected areas are expected to give on-the-spot assessment on the damages, those affected and prevent re-occurrence.

“You will recall that the state government set up a committee headed by the immediate past commissioner for Works, Hon. Amuda Kannike, last year to come up with a recommendation on the affected areas and the people with a view to relocating them. Meanwhile, de-silting of drainage and construction of drainages opposite Royal Shekinah and other roads along the axis were planned for.

“Also, the KWARTMA officials have been drafted to the areas for on the spot assessment, control the traffic and get back to the state government with such report”, he said.