A ferocious flood, on January, Sunday 20, 2019, sacked residents of Odogunyan area in Ikorodu after heavy downpour which caught many unaware.
It was gathered that the rain, which was the first in Ikorodu in 2019, caused heavy flood which rendered many streets impassable for both humans and vehicle movement while many shops and houses were equally affected with goods and properties worth millions of naira destroyed.
Among the streets affected are Tenibegiloju, Ojuemure, Oduyebo and several others.
Among those badly affected by the flood were traders and shop owners most of whom suffered huge loss as their shops were locked being a weekend day which made the flood to have unrestrained entry into their shops and destroyed goods such as bags of rice, bags of beans, stock fish, mobile phones, phone accessories, matresses, electronics, computer systems and many more.
Some of them were reported to have hurriedly returned to their shops after receiving information about the incident and were shocked by the extent of damages.
When Oriwu Sun visited the area, traces of damages caused by the heavy downpour were still all over the affected communities as residents conducted our reporters round some of the affected shops and houses where damaged goods and properties were yet to be evacuated.
Some of the residents in an interview with our reporters blamed the untold havoc wrecked by the flood on the Arab contractors, who are handling the ongoing construction of the Ikorodu-Sagamu road.
They accused the construction company of blocking the main road and drainages with heavy deposit of sand used in filling the road and this according to them, forced the erosion to over flow into nearby shops and houses.
They, however, called on the government and the contractors to hasten the construction of the roads and drainages before the rain becomes incessant to avoid wrecking further havoc on the residents and their properties.
Also, the affected shop owners and traders equally pleaded with the government for assistance.
Meanwhile, Chief Kamaru Sunday, Baale of Ojuemure community, and owner of some of the affected shops, while speaking with Oriwu Sun lamented the damages caused by the flood to both the residents and shop owners in his community.
Mr. God’swill Uchena Okereke, a trader whose mobile phones and phone accessories shop is located at Odogunyan bus stop was affected blamed Arab Contractors for negligently and carelessly blocking the drainages and main road with heavy deposit of sand and causing their shops to be flooded.
He stated that the officials of the construction company ought to have known that the blockage could cause flooding when it rains and therefore should have done the needful by clearing the drainages to prevent the flooding incident.
God’swill explained that most of the mobile phones and phones accessories in his shop, which cost more than N500,000, were destroyed by the flood.
He pleaded with the federal government to help in forestalling flooding incident in the areas during the coming raining season by directing Arab contractors to speed up construction work on Ikorodu – Sagamu road.
Another affected shop owner, Mrs. Chiamela Peter, a fish and food stuffs seller, while recounting her experience, said, “All my fishes (stock fish) and stuffs were damaged by the flood while
All the properties in our house including bed, chairs, an electronics were equally submerged by water. I just went to market on Friday (two days earlier) with N61,000 to stock my shop but now, everything is gone.
“This flood incident was caused by the construction work going on in the area. Why will the construction company blocked the road and gutters with sand and forgot to clear them when everyone knowns that it could rain anytime. They should quickly remove the sand from the road and gutters so that water can flow freely.
The government should also help those of us whose shops and goods were affected with compensation since they collect levies from all shop owners in these area.”
Also, Mrs. Adepoju, a Yam flour an Garri seller, whose two shops full of bags of garri and yam flour were flooded, stated that the loss she suffered was too much for her to bear.
She said the damages were so serious that she had to throw away all the affected bags of yam flour and garri as she could no longer sell them because they were not fit for consumption.
Like other affected shop owners, Mrs. Adepoju blamed the ongoing construction of the Ikorodu-Sagamu road for the incident and warned that flooding issue in the affected areas could worsen if the road and drainage currently under construction are not properly constructed before the commencement of the raining season.
Mrs. Silifat Tijani, a stationery seller and computer operator, while lamenting over the incident, stated that she was badly hit by the flood as her computer systems and stationeries worth over a million naira were damaged.
She equally identified the blockage of the drainages with sand as the cause of the flood while stressing that they have never experienced such serious flooding incident before.
She, however, urged Arab contractors to help in clearing, the drainage and link gutters in the affected communities to them so that erosion would be properly channeled to the canal.