The National Emergency Management Agency has said that no fewer than 300 houses are affected in the five hour-downpour of Tuesday morning in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, with property worth millions of naira destroyed.
The Agency, which said that it was still collating the number of families displaced and means of livelihood destroyed, however, observed that the major cause of the flood was indiscriminate dumping of refuse in rivers and erection of illegal structures on waterways and flood path.
An early morning rain wreaked havoc across Ibadan with many houses submerged and property destroyed.
Areas mostly affected by the flood are Olodo, Oki, Akobo, Onipepeye, Kute, Eleyele and Ariyo, among others.
Although, no life was recorded lost after the flood, means of livelihood and property worth hundreds of millions of naira were lost, after the rain that started around 4am on Tuesday morning and lasted till about 9am.
The South West Zonal Coordinator of NEMA, Mr. Yakubu Suleiman, made this disclosure after inspecting the affected areas across the state in company with the Oyo State Deputy Governor, Otunba Moses Adeyemo, who led other members of the State Executive Council on the tour.
Suleiman, who could not put a specific figure to the cost of the damages, however, assured that the agency would definitely reach out with relief materials to the affected areas as soon as it finished compiling the number of the affected families.
Not wanting to put a specific figure to the numbers collated so far after the tour, the South West NEMA boss insisted that it was important to get an actual figure so as to know the amount of relief items to be brought.
He said that the agency was moved to inspect and assess the levels of damage, following the report of the incident in the media.
“We were moved to come and inspect the level of damages following the report in the media.
“We have seen over 300 houses affected with property and means of livelihood in the tunes of millions of naira destroyed.
“We also observed that the main cause of the flood is the indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drainage and people erecting structures on flood path. This is indeed very dangerous. We can only implore the people to always observe the mandatory 30-metre setback required by the environmental and physical planning laws before erecting any structure.
“We are still counting the number of families affected and as soon as we get the actual figure, we will immediately bring in relief materials to support the victims. Just like we did in 2011, we will be there this time also to support the people as soon as we get the actual figure of the victims.”
The Deputy Governor, Otunba Adeyemo, while addressing journalists after the tour, said if not for the ongoing intervention by the state government in dredging rivers and streams, the impact of the flood would have been more disastrous.
He appealed to the people of the state to cooperate with the state government in obeying environmental laws by not erecting structures on flood path and stop dumping refuse in drainage.
He warned that the government would not hesitate to demolish structures built on waterways and flood paths so as to create better channel for the waters to flow in subsequent downpour.
Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Information, Culture and Orientation, Mr. Toye Arulogun, said that the tour had revealed a lot of contraventions of the environmental and physical planning laws of the state.
Arulogun noted that the first thing the government would do after the tour could be to demolish every illegal structure and sanction contraventions of environmental and physical planning laws across the state.
