Flood renders Benin city residents homeless

Many residents of Benin have been rendered homeless following several hours of heavy down pour on Saturday.

A correspondent who went round to monitor the situation in the Edo capital, reports that several houses were submerged by the flood and others destroyed.

While only a few part of the city was spared by the flood, the areas worst hit included most parts of the GRA, 1st East Circular, Akenwan road, Sakponba road, Erediauwa, off Sapele road, Okhoro as well as Ugbowo areas of the city.

Aside the destruction and submerging of houses, several cars were also destroyed by the flood.

Residents who are still busy scooping water from their homes, have continued to lament over the destruction of their properties by the flood.

Some of the victims of the flood who spoke with NAN, painted a gloomy future if they are not assisted by the government to recover some of their losses.

Moses Izekor, while describing the situation as pathetic, said they watched hopeless as the flood completely submerged their house and destroyed properties.

Izekor who resides in Erediauwa, off Sapele road, blamed the flood in the area to the newly constructed road with poor water channels.

“When this road was being constructed, we complained about the way the channeling of the flood was being carried out but nobody listened to us. This is just about the first heavy rain this year and see what we are already experiencing,” he stated.

Also Uwadiac Osagie, a resident of Edosonwan around Ugbor, GRA, said residents of the area were all trapped in their homes by the flood.

He said if not for the intervention of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), they would now be narrating a different story.

The situation was not different with Mr Osazuwa Ighodaro, living in Erie, off Sakponba road, whose building caved in under the impact of the flood.

However, the government has attributed the flood to non adherence to building regulation and indiscriminate dumping of refuse in drainage.

Mr Yakubu Gowon, Special Adviser on Spacial Duties to the Governor, stated this while going round to assess the level of damages caused by the flood.

According to him, “These are the things the governor has always emphasised; that we obey building regulations and stop indecrimate waste disposal.

“We need to help ourselves because the government is doing a lot to ensure the city is rid of flooding incidents.”

(NAN)

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