A late Wednesday evening downpour in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital has led to flood that rendered many residents homeless.
Hard hit by the flood were areas including Odo-Ona, Omi-Adio, NIHORT, Apata and Gbekuba.
Some bridges linking communities were also overflown with flood, causing traffic snarls for motorists and residents.
The bridge linking NIHORT with Gbekuba and Idi-Ishin was totally submerged leading many residents in the surrounding communities stranded.
At any sign of rain, residents of Wire Road in Ihinmwin community of Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State become fidgety. Their fears are genuine. Floods have wreaked havoc in the community forcing hundreds of landlords and tenants to abandon their homes to take refuge in ‘strange lands’. OSAGIE OTABOR writes that residents are pleading with government to repair their road for ease of movement.
In the yesteryear, the popular Wire Road used to be one of the finest in Ihinmwin community in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area of Edo State. Taxis relish plying it, as they convey residents to the Ikpoba River where the road terminates.
The ancient city of Benin-City boasts two major Wire roads; one leads to the famous Benin Five-Junction from Ibiwe Street, while the other, which is now in a parlous state, is in Ihinmwin community. It is located at Saint Saviour Road, off Upper Sokponba.
Investigations by Niger Delta Report revealed that the road which used to smooth and motorable is now in its worst state of dilapidation. Some describe it as eyesore and a nightmare to the few remaining landlords whose houses are still standing. There are now less than 10 houses, including two churches on Wire Road. Over 100 landlords have been forced out of their homes by persistent flooding that has been ravaging the area for over 15 years.
Many adjoining streets linking Wire Road have been cut off by the rampaging flood which does not dry. A larger part of the road has been overtaken by weed. Not many residents could remember how the once-good road became prone to flooding and erosion. But they all prayed and hoped that help would soon come their way.
Some residents who spoke with our reporter expressed their helplessness with regard to the road. Some of them wonder why the road still remain in its worst state despite millions of Naira which the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) has sunk in its efforts to control flood in the area as well as to recover the road. The residents lamented that contractors always abandon the road projects after collecting mobilisation money.
Victor Obaseki, a resident in the area recalled how part of the job was sub-let to a landlord in the area. Victor said the contractor collected money, built another house at Oregbeni Quarters and ran away; leaving his building at the mercy of flood.
As a result of the flood that has ravaged the area, business activities have totally collapsed in the area.
Patricia, a tailor and resident of the area told Niger Delta Report that the state of the road had negatively impacted on her business. She added that customers are not willing to come to that deplorable part of Benin City.
Explaining why she remained behind, she said she could not afford the fund to rent a shop elsewhere.
“I have lots of friends that would willingly give me jobs but they always complained about the bad state of the road and I cannot afford a better place. The area is good but the road network is the problem.
any people do not pass through this area; only a few do. If I do not have customers, I would sew children’s clothes and hawk them in the markets for about one hour.
“If there is a possible solution to this road, I will be happy. My mother lives here and I cannot afford to rent a house. I have to stay with my mother,” she said.
A retired civil servant, Aluya Patrick, said he always live in constant fear whenever the rain approaches; because his house could be the next to be submerged by the flood.
Patrick said several letters have been written to relevant authorities, even as he expressed sadness that nothing has been done about the deplorable nature of the road.
He said other landlords have decided not to renovate their houses because of the flood.
“Many people have left; that is why we are not interested in maintaining our houses because we don’t know what would happen next. We have tried our best possible; but fixing the road is beyond the ability of our community.
“We have written several letters to our representatives at the Senate and House of Representatives. I am very scared because as an old man, I do not have the resources to build another house. If worse becomes worst, I will relocate to the village. I have spent over 30 years here. This road was very good. You can drive to the river. Taxis plied the road and there was nothing like erosion. Maybe it was caused by development.”
Odionwere of the area, Augustine Ikponmwosa, said: “This Wire Road has become a liability to us. For the past 18 years, we have been living in a perilous situation. It has been bad for a very long time. The Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) came to fix the road but it was not properly done. The erosion has driven many people away from this area. Over 100 landlords have relocated to other places.
“The contractor came and did one manhole which has stopped functioning. They should have channelled the flood to the Ikpoba River.
“We have written several letters to the House of Assembly, Senate and the last contractor engaged by the NDDC. There was a contractor who the main contractor sub-let the job to. He ran away after collecting money to built another house at Ikpoba Hill area.”
Victor Obaseki, on his part, said he has been living the area since 1973, stressing that there is nowhere else to call home.
“We are begging the government to help the masses here, especially the tenants. Those living here don’t have anywhere else to go. We beg the government to monitor whoever they award the contract to construct the road to. This is the first good road we had in the whole of Ihinmwin during the regime of the late Ali and Ogbemudia,” Obaseki said.
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) will soon flood the market Petroleum Gas Association of Nigeria (LPGAN) president Dapo Adesina has said.
He said the product is coming from the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) based in Bonny, Port Harcourt, Rivers State. Adesina said the supply is imperative in order to buoy availability and minimise the stress consumers have gone through in recent times to buy the product.
Adesina dismissed allegations that the scarcity of the product was caused by technical problems. He said market forces were responsible for the shortage and slight increase in the price of LPG by operators, adding that NLNG has promised to replenish the market with the product.
He said the scarcity of LPG in the country, was caused by the forces of supply and demand, and not technical issues. “In the past few weeks, the demand for LPG has outstripped supply in the country. The moment LPG vessels berth in Lagos from Port Harcourt, people waste no time in demanding for the product. Consumption of cooking gas has increased in the past few months because more people have seen the need to use it because it is a safer, healthy and friendly source of energy for domestic and industrial purposes,” he added.
According to him, LPG consumption will exceed 350,000 tonnes in Nigeria before the end of 2015, in view of the fact that the demand for the product has increased.
“The computation of the volume or tonnes of LPG consumed in a year is normally done at the end of the fourth quarter. By that time, operators must have compiled all the records of LPG supplied by NLNG, and consumed in the country. In 2014, 350,000 tonnes of LPG was consumed in Nigeria. Given the fact that the demand for LPG has increased in 2015, the consumption figure will be more than 350,000 when it is computed,” he added.
The Imo State Government Thursday assured flood victims in riverine communities in Oguta Local Government Area of the State of government’s intervention to cushion their sufferings.
The State Governor, Rochas Okorocha who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere, gave the assurance when he visited some of the flooded communities to ascertain the level of the havoc wrecked by the flood.
The Deputy Governor described the flood as a disaster which has caused pain and huge loss to the people.
He advised the victims to keep off the river banks to avoid accidents that could cause further loss of lives.
The Deputy Governor said that the state government will deploy health workers and environmentalists to provide medication and prevent breakout of epidemics.
Speaking further, he said he was in the know that the Deputy Chief of Staff, Government, Mr. Kingsley Uju had visited with relief material but that other relief items are on the way to serve as palliatives to them.
He assured that the State will liaise with the Federal Government to ensure that they get necessary relief, to mitigate the impact of the flood.
Thirty three riverine villages in Lapai Local Government area of Niger State have been sacked by flood from Rivers Niger and Kogi.
Fifteen of the affected villages are currently submerged by the flood, displacing residents of the villages while the access roads to 18 other villages have been washed off by the flood. Inhabitants of the worst hit villages are currently camping at Primary Schools in Arah and Dere villages under deplorable living conditions.
Domestic animals and multi-million Naira properties,which include residential buildings, schools, places of worship and vast farmland have been destroyed and washed away by the flood.
House of Representatives member representing Agaie/Lapai Federal constituency, Hon. Mohammed Abdulkadir Mahamud and his State House of Assembly counterpart for Lapai constituency, Hon. Adamu Hassan Abugi who paid a fact-finding visit to the affected areas on Sunday expressed concern for the victims.
The two legislators who are indigenes of the area assured the affected communities of state government determination to alleviate their sufferings by relocating them upland of banks of the two major rivers.
Addressing the displaced persons at Dere Primary School, Hon. Mahmud said the state governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello promised to come to the aid of the affected communities following a preliminary report sent to him.
“We have spoken to the governor of the degree of devastation caused by the flood and he (governor) has promised to come to our aid with a view to relocating our people upland. And I know that the governor will not disappoint us,” the lawmaker assured his people.
He also called for the take off of the Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (HYPPADEC) in order to address the annual flooding of the area.
“It is high time for states under HYPPADEC to come toigether and ensure the takeoff of the Commission, so that lasting solution could be found to this perennial flooding and protect our people from suffering annually as a result of flood,” Mahmud appealed.
Earlier the village head of Dere, Alhaji Idris Dere who recounted their losses said this year’s flooding was more devastating and called on the three tiers of government to come to their aid.
Floods which ravaged some parts of the country may have destroyed rice plantations that produce about 11 percent of what Africa’s biggest economy needs to meet this year’s consumption.
Above-normal rainfall in the country’s northwest region caused the banks of the Sokoto and Rima rivers to overflow in the Sokoto and Zamfara states, flooding rice plantations and destroying about 626,250 metric tons of the staple, Lawal Shehu, Kebbi state’s director of produce.
In the Kebbi and Jigawa states, a combined 635,000 hectares of low-land, rain-fed plantations have been affected.
About 350,000 hectares of rice plantations spread across 12 local government areas in the state are totally submerged in flood water across Kebbi alone, Shehu said from its capital, Birnin Kebbi.
Africa’s most-populous nation produces less than half of the 6 million tons of rice it consumes annually, according to the U.S. Agriculture Department.
The losses are equivalent to 1 1/2 months of Nigeria’s rice consumption, based on data from the United Food & Agriculture Organization. Imports to make up for the losses would cost $225 million, based on Thai export prices.
Half of Jigawa’s 135,000 hectares under cultivation have been affected, Abdu Auwalu, an officer for the World Bank’s Fadama rural-farmer project, said by phone from Dutse, the state capital.
Traders in Ariaria International Market, Aba, lost goods worth millions of naira in last Wednesday’s flood.
Investigations showed that shops in A, B and WWLS lines, mostly occupied by hot drinks and drug sellers, were the worse-hit as the water submerged the entire shops.
The traders lamented that the incident was the fourth this year. They called on the state government to come to their aid.
A trader, Kingsley, lamented their loss in the last five years. He said efforts to draw the attention of the last administration to their plight were abortive.
“This issue was reported severally during the last administration. But instead of addressing the situation, they started threatening us.
“The last time it was reported, some of our members were arrested and taken to Aba Area Command. And after the harassment, they are yet to address the situation which has gone from bad to worse.
“Majority of our customers are staying away. As I speak now, my shed is practically closed because there is no way to enter. Look around, and see people wearing rain boots. Tell me a market where traders wear rain boots to sell. We only answer Ariaria International Market in name; there is nothing to show for it.”
Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal has urged the Federal Government to resettle some villages ravaged by flood.
The affected communities are in Tangaza and Gudu local government areas.
The governor, who visited Sakkwai and Kutufare villages in both local government areas yesterday to sympathise with them, noted that the damage the flood caused was unprecedented.
Tambuwal said his administration would assess the damage the flood did to homes and farmlands, adding that many victims had been camped at government approved sites across the state.
The governor directed the road maintenance agency to repair the road linking both local government areas, which had been submerged by flood.
He cautioned the residents to desist from acts that could block the waterways.
Tambuwal advised the people to pray against a recurrence of the floods to prevent further destruction of property.
The governor was assisted round the affected areas by the Director-General of the State Emergency Management Agency, Alhaji Hassan Maccido, who said the flood destroyed over 152 houses and many farmlands.
Taraba state has gotten its share of flood disaster this year.
Scores of people and domestic animals have reportedly feared killed in a fierce havoc wreaked by the flood.
The most affected local government councils are Karimlamido and Lau.
The flood was caused by heavy torrential downpour, even as the people are yet to witness the release of water from a Cameroon dam.
A House of Assembly member from Karimlamido, Edward Baraya, confirmed reports of the flood disaster and deaths, but was not certain about the casualty figure.
The council caretaker Chairman of Karimlamido Idi Danfulani also said many residents were reported killed in his council but he does not know the exact number of those killed.
In Lau, many buildings shook in their foundations while farm crops and some houses and vehicles were submerged.
Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku is said to have directed all chairmen of the affected councils to forward reports of flood disaster in their domains to the Bureau for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.
Caretaker Chairman of Lau, Nelson Banker was seen submitting his Flood Report at the Bureau Friday.
Danfulani of Karimlamido told The Nation he would be touring his entire council today, to take detailed statistics of the lives lost and property destroyed by the flood.
Taraba is one of the states that witnessed devastating floods that wreaked havoc on people, houses, animals and farmlands in 2012.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had in a recent sensitisation workshop in Jalingo -the Taraba State capital, warned of a possible flood disaster. It identified some vulnerable communities that could experience flood disaster.
NEMA Head of Operation Appolos Jediel had identified Lau, Shomo, Garin-Dogo, Kunini, Donadda, Bwai, Ibi, Njibu, Donga, and Takum as vulnerable communities in Taraba Northern and Southern zones.
NEMA also warned of the possible release of water from the Lagdo dam from neighboring Cameroon.
With the rains in peak and water anticipated to be released from the Cameroon dam, residents of Taraba’s flood prone areas have been living in fears.
Local boats and canoes are being used to convey affected persons particularly children and old people to safer areas.
•Destroys 200 rice farms in Jigawa village
A nursing mother and her child were confirmed dead yesterday following a flood that washed away houses and farmlands in Shuwari, Mubi North Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
The Executive Secretary of Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Mr Haruna Furo, who confirmed the incident, said the woman and her baby died when their house collapsed on them.
Furo, who spoke after assessing the damage by the flood, said two children between ages seven and 10 also died in Mubi South Local Government Area.
He said they were found dead near a river in Mubi, following a downpour, adding that the agency received a report on the death of four persons.
Furo said: “Two of the deaths were confirmed in Mubi North Local Government Area, while the other two happened in Mubi South Local Government Area.
“The deaths were the result of last week’s downpour that submerged many communities in the area.”
The SEMA chief said the four deaths in Mubi brought the figure to five.
He added that one person died in Demsa Area before.
Furo also said thousands of domestic animals died, while hectares of farmlands were submerged.
He said the agency donated some materials to the affected victims, adding that the agency contacted the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and few non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for more assistance.
Emir of Mubi Alhaji Isa Ahmadu, who received the SEMA team in his palace, decried the deaths and loss of property to flooding.
The emir called for the intervention of the Federal Government.
He said: “On behalf of my community, especially those affected, I am appealing to the Federal Government to quickly intervene.
“Our major concern is the way and manner the River in Mubi is threatening some parts of the town.”
The lawmaker representing Mubi North in Adamawa House of Assembly, Sani Shehu, said over 50 houses were damaged by the flood.
He said: “About 20 houses were completely washed away by the flood, while part of Mubi graveyard in Shuwari was destroyed.”
Also, the Village Head of Warwade in Dutse Local Government Area of Jigawa State, Alhaji Ado Musa, yesterday said flood has washed away over 200 rice farms valued at N20 million in his community.
Musa spoke in Dutse, the state capital, with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
He said the flood occurred because of a heavy rainfall and overflow of the tributaries of the dam in the area in the last few days.
Musa said: “All the rice we planted in over 200 farms at the bank of the dam was destroyed because the dam was overfilled with water.