By Rotimi Ajayi, Regional Editor, North & Evelyn Usman
LAGOS — Following last Sunday’s downpour in Lagos, seven additional bodies were yesterday recovered in a canal around Aboru in Iyana-Ipaja area of the state even as President Goodluck Jonathan has called for comprehensive review of the Erosion and Flood Control Policy in view of the increasing incidents of flood across the country especially in Lagos State.

The two-day rainfall in Lagos has also partly crippled operations at the high brow Eko Hospital, Ikeja

As seven additional bodies were recovered, the corpse of a man identified simply as Baba Adija, who reportedly got drowned in an attempt to save his two children, was yet to be recovered two days after the tragic incident.

The late Baba Adija, a popular commercial motorcyclist who resided at Isola Street, was said to have been swept away by flood, when he mistakenly fell inside the canal which was submerged in water. His two children, a boy and a girl of ages 14 and 15 respectively were, however, rescued while effort to save their father failed.

Eye witnesses said corpses of the drowned victims were taken away by their relatives for burial.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan has called for comprehensive review of the Erosion and Flood Control Policy in view of the increasing incidence of flood across the country especially in Lagos State.

A top source within the Presidency disclosed in Abuja that following the rising flood in Lagos State, Jonathan called on the management of the Ecological Fund Office to brief him on the immediate and long-term approach to containing the flood problems.

The source said the President expressed concern on the increasing volume of flood and its attendant damage to properties across the country.

It was learnt that the Permanent Secretary of the Ecological Fund Office, Mrs Ibukun Odusote, has continued to brief the President since weekend when the flood in Lagos broke out and it started assuming a fearful dimension.

The two-day rainfall in Lagos has also partly crippled operations at the high brow Eko Hospital, Ikeja.  According to reports, a section of the hospital’s perimeter fencing collapsed due to a deluge of flood water from a neighbouring car shop.

The hospital’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr Gbite Ogunmokun said though the facility had standard drainage system, the flooding was caused by a deep hole in a nearby car shop that retained a lot of the rain water.

He said this was the first time such an incident would occur in the hospital.

Ogunmokun added that the flood damaged two vehicles parked in the hospital’s car park and affected its Radiotherapy Centre and the Fertility Clinic that were directly behind the broken fence.

“Two vehicles were damaged when the fence caved in, our Radiotherapy and Fertility Centres were heavily flooded and a building behind the hospital was also affected,” he said.

Ogunmokun added that the affected centres had been cleaned out and no major damage was done to the equipment.
He, however, said that the generator stopped working when water entered it but technicians were working on it. He added that the construction of new fences would commence on Tuesday so as to protect their properties from vandalism. He said the management would reconstruct the fence in a much more solid way to guard against a recurrence.

“We will ensure that everything is done to ensure that this incident does not occur again,” Ogunmokun said.