The rainstorms across the country a few days ago wreaked havoc on some communities across states and have made life difficult for residents, Daily Trust on Sunday reports.
From Peter Moses (Abeokuta), Dotun Omisakin (Lagos), Dickson S. Adama (Jos) & Magaji Hunkuyi (Jalingo)
Obasanjo Farm, 49 Ogun communities thrown into darkness
In Ogun State, a raging rainstorm threw at least 40 communities in the Ota axis of Ado, Odo-Ota Local Government Area of the state into darkness.
For about a month, residents of Ogun State were eager to have rain to cool off hot and harsh weather being experienced lately. And when the clouds gathered at noon on Sunday, they felt a reprieve.
The rain started around 12pm, but it was accompanied by forceful wind, blowing away everything in its paths. In Ota, the headquarters of Ado Odo-Ota Local Government Area, the rainstorm uprooted some electric poles which fell on the road and caused obstruction for road users.
In Sango-Ota axis, a viral video shows some fallen electricity poles and cables blocking a section of the Lagos-Ota- Abeokuta Expressway.
One of the poles specifically fell on a yellow-coloured luxury bus, disrupting traffic.
Voices could be heard from the video of people thanking God that there was power outage before the downpour, which would have led to fatalities. The video showed the utility poles fell on vehicles, including a long school bus, cars, trucks and a tricycle, trapping them down.
Inside Ota, spaces could be seen on some rooftops, as the storm removed the asbestos or aluminium sheets from some buildings.
Due to the severe damages to electric poles and cables, 40 communities were plunged into darkness with residents having no hint on when they will have their electricity restored.
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company confirmed the incident, appealing to residents to avoid contact with the broken poles and cables.
In a public notice, the IBEDC said: “Due to broken poles occasioned by the heavy downpour at Ota and Mowe, customers in the following communities: lyana lyesi, Osuke Town, Egan Road, lyana Ilogbo, Ijaba, Ijagba, Itele, Lafenwa, Singer, Joju, Alishiba, Oju Ore, Tollgate, Eledi, Akeja, Abebi, Osi Roundabout, Ota Town, Ota Industrial Estate, Igberen, lju, Atan, Onipanu, Obasanjo, Lusada, Arigba, Odugbe, Ado-Odo, Igbesa, Owode. Olokuta, Hanushi, Bamtish Camp Lufiwape, Eltees Farm, August Engineering, Spark Cear Soap Ayetoro, Amazing Grace Oil, Christopher University, Royal Garden Estate, Pentagon Estate and environs are experiencing power outage.”
The DisCo urged residents not to tamper with the electrical installations in an attempt to have them repaired.
It said its technical team was working to clear and replace the affected poles and cables.
“Kindly avoid contact with the broken poles, saggy wires or any other electrical installation affected by the rain. Report any incident and do not attempt to repair or tamper with electrical installations.
“Our technical team is working to clear and replace the broken poles and installations to ensure power supply is restored as soon as possible.
“We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience,” the IBEDC stated.
‘We don’t know when our light will be restored’
Residents have been counting their losses following the rainstorm. Officials of the IBEDC were on ground to ascertain the level of damage and how to fix the situation.
Our correspondent reports that residents and road users resorted to one-way along the Idiroko-Ota Road as some of areas affected were condoned off as part of precautionary measures.
Yomi Oke, a resident of Ota, said “As a result of these poles that went down because of the rainstorm, we lost power immediately and just last night we got a message from the IBEDC that the power outage may persist until it is fixed,” he said.
Oke added that “I am presently on the road where the incident happened. I can see officials of the IBEDC who are here to see what they can do. They are assessing the situation as we speak.
“What it means is that the power outage will linger for a while. If by now, none of these poles have been raised, I am sure we can’t have our electricity restored later today or anytime soon.”
He confirmed that some of the affected areas include Obasanjo Farm area, Iganmode Road, Joju and other communities along Idiroko-Ota Road.
Mrs Blessing Wilson, a trader, told Daily Trust that no fewer than 20 poles were affected by the rainstorm, urging the government to fix the challenges as soon as possible in order to save socio-economic activities of the residents.
Another resident simply identified as Kunle said “Virtually all the newly erected electric poles on the Ota-Idiroko Road were affected by the windstorm.”
“The electricity poles were new projects of the Federal Government, but unfortunately all of the poles fell down due to the rainstorm.
“You will be surprised that there are old poles along the route still standing. What manner of project is that? Who was the contractor that handled the project,” he lamented?
LG sets up committee to ascertain level of damages
Sheriff Adewale Musa, the Chairman of Ado Odo-Ota LGA, told newsmen that a committee has been set up to go round the affected communities to ascertain the level of damages.
While saying he could not put a figure to the level of damages recorded, he described it as “colossal.”
Musa explained that traders were in a panic mood as they counted their losses.
He said apart from the electric poles and cables, the rainstorm destroyed some of the council’s property, including poultry farm and the LG quarters.
He said “The destruction is on a high side, even our LG quarters were ravaged. Our poultry in Area II was destroyed. Even some of the offices here were affected. All the new poles were just erected; everything was destroyed.
“We just finished a meeting because we want to examine the level of the damage. A committee has been set up to go round and submit a report of its findings.
“The level of the damage is colossal, but all hands are on deck in making sure we address this. In this kind of situation, people are already panicking and counting their losses.”
He, however, assured the residents that “the federal, state and the local governments are working assiduously to ensure that succour is brought to the people.”
Flood submerges houses, destroys property in Lagos
In Lagos, the downpour which resulted in flooding has sacked many occupants from their houses, reawakening their plight at the outset of the rainy season.
Our correspondent who visited some communities in Lagos discovered that the absence of a proper drainage system to channel the water whenever it rains is a major problem faced by residents.
Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that the absence of proper drainage spills the water flowing through the canal to communities, impeding the flow of both human and vehicular movement.
In Aboru, a suburb community tucked between Abesan and Iyana-Ipaja, in Oke-Odo LCDA, our correspondent reports that whenever it rains heavily, it leads to the overflow of water above the uncompleted canal in Alabede.
Narrating their ordeals, the residents lamented the loss of lives and property when it rains heavily.
According to a landlord residing on Ganiyu Street, who pleaded anonymity, houses closer to the canal are at risk of floods. While calling on the state government to come to their aid, he said the plight is becoming unbearable for residents.
“Our plea to the federal and state governments is to fix this canal issue in Aboru because this flood is disturbing us. Lives and property have been lost because of this canal,” he said.
However, during a visit to Adebari Ilobu community in Orile-Agege LCDA, it was observed that construction of drainage channels is ongoing.
But in an interview with our correspondent, the CDA’s secretary, Bakare Olanrewaju, described the construction as a charade, lamenting that it cannot contain the volume of the water flowing inside the drainage.
He explained that the ministry of environment, through the office of drainage services and water resources began the construction of drainage in 2022 aimed at bringing relief to the community but lamented that the project has been abandoned for over a year.
“We complained that the drainage is too narrow and cannot contain the volume of water flowing inside the drainage.”
Another resident, Ajoke Alatise, lamented that whenever there is flood, students won’t be able to go to school, calling for the intervention of the government.
“When it rains, our children will not be able to go to school because of the drainage,” she said.
Olatunji Amuda, another Adebare resident, said “This is the road we ply daily but when it rains, it becomes impassable. Sometimes, we help adults in the communities to cross over.”
Plateau
In Plateau State, the rain wrecked havoc on houses and shops mostly in Jos South and Jos North local government areas.
The streets were flooded, drainages overrun, rooftops of some buildings blown off while walls of other buildings collapsed partly or completely.
Daily Trust on Sunday gathered that some buildings in the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) Barracks in Jos had their roofs blown off.
A resident of Bauchi Road in Jos North, Ridwan Abdullahi, said about 15 houses were affected in their area, and that some of the victims have relocated to the houses of friends and relatives to put up with them for the time being.
He also said some persons sustained varied degrees of injuries as a result of the havoc caused by the rainstorm.
Abdullahi called on the authorities to come to the aid of the affected persons, adding that some of the damage done was also as a result of substandard building or people building in inappropriate places and waterways.
Another resident of Jos North, Suleiman Hassan, said in their area, especially Filinsukwa Junction and Salisu Adamu Junction, the rainstorm pulled down some trees as well as electric poles, thereby causing power outage and total blackout in their area.
He said until now, many households in those places are still in darkness as a result of the destruction to the poles, and so called on the electricity distribution company to endeavour to fix the damage so that businesses using electricity don’t suffer the brunt.
Taraba
In Taraba State, three residents of Takum town lost their lives following a severe windstorm that struck the area twice in two days.
The first incident, according to a resident, Mallam Maiwada Takum, caused extensive damage to residential, commercial, school and office buildings.
Maiwada Takum said the windstorm was accompanied by heavy rainfall that lasted for over one and half hours.
“The impact was devastating, with some buildings collapsing and many people trapped. Flying debris, including zinc sheets, caused injuries to many residents,” he said.
Also, another powerful windstorm struck Takum town, causing further destruction to buildings and injuring many people.
The windstorm, accompanied by heavy rainfall, started shortly after Governor Agbu Kefas entered the town to inspect the damage caused by the earlier windstorm on Tuesday evening.
It was gathered that the storm, which began around 2.30pm on Wednesday, led to the destruction of numerous buildings, including residential homes, schools, electric poles and trees.
The second incident hampered the governor’s efforts to assess the previous day’s damage caused by the windstorm.
Mr Emmanuel Bello, the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Agbu Kefas on Media and Digital Communication, said the governor had entered Takum to inspect the damage caused by the windstorm when the town experienced another heavy rainfall.
Other towns also affected by windstorms in the state include Bali, part of Jalingo, Nguroge and Mutumbiyu.
In Bali town, the headquarters of Bali Local Government Area, the areas affected include the Federal Polytechnic Bali where many structures were destroyed.
The Director of Works at the polytechnic, Engineer Mahmud Hussein, told Daily Trust on Sunday that office equipment, files and other vital documents were destroyed by the windstorm.
He said the damage was severe because the windstorm was accompanied by heavy rainfall leading to the damage of structures and equipment.
Engineer Hussain stated that the buildings and equipment destroyed by windstorms were worth millions of Naira.
He appealed to the federal government to assist the institution with funds to repair the damaged buildings and replace office equipment destroyed during the windstorm.
