At least five people have been reported dead and property worth millions of naira destroyed on Friday night, as flood wreaked havoc in some parts of Abeokuta, Ogun State.
The downpour, which started around 4p.m. and stopped by 9p.m, caused river channels in the capital city to overflow their banks resulting in loss of lives and sweeping away of several vehicles. Areas mostly affected by the incident include Iya Amolaso, Oke Lantoro, Lanfenwa, Totoro, Ijaye, Kuto and Kobiti areas of Abeokuta metropolis.
Three of the persons who were killed, was a food vendor and her two children, whose container shop was swept away by the flood around Kobiti Central Mosque area of Abeokuta. An eye witness said that the food vendor, Halirat Akintobi and her two sons, were hiding inside the container when the downpour started and were later trapped in the shop.
The three victims were, however, reported to have been buried on Saturday morning in accordance with the Islamic rite. Corpses of the two children were also reportedly recovered from Sokori River in Iya Amolaso area of Abeokuta.
The Chairman of the Pain chapter of the Nigerian Red Cross Society, Joseph Obalanlege, who was on an assessment tour of the affected areas, described the development as “highly devastating”. He added that the corpses of the persons killed by the flood had been deposited at the morgue of the State Hospital, Ijaye.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Ahmed Iliyasu, who could not ascertain the number of deaths, said the police had joined other disaster management agencies in ameliorating the situation. The Assistant Chief Planning Officer, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Southwest Zone, Babatunde Olowookere, said that the agency was working out plans to assist those affected by the flood. He said that the situation was aggravated by those building structures on water channels and dumping of refuse in drains.
