12 dead, many swept away as flood ravages Ibadan

The damaged Odo Ona Elewe Bridge with sympathizers and victims

No fewer than 11 persons were feared dead, with many others swept away by flood in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, following a Friday downpour that lasted about six hours.

This led to the collapse of bridges and destruction of properties worth millions of naira, leaving many residents homeless.

Among the affected areas were Apete, Sango-Polytechnic Road, Odo-Orogun, Ariyo, Odo-Ona Elewe, Odo-Ona Apata and Oke-Ayo, Ring Road.

It was gathered that the flooding that besieged the city as a result of the downpour led to heavy traffic, with many people stranded outside their homes until early Saturday morning.

At Polytechnic Road, a medical doctor working at the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Oyo State, Kunle Akinleye, two other members of his family and a housemaid were on Friday feared killed in their home at number 141, Ijokodo Junction.

One Kehinde, who claimed to be a church member and friend of the deceased, said Akinleye and his two children, with the housemaid, were indoors around 4pm when the rain started.

Eye witnesses said problem started when the river beside the house overflowed its boundary and flooded the area. The deceased’s house was flooded and three vehicles that were parked in front of the house — a jeep and two other cars — were swept into the deceased’s compound.

No fewer than five persons were said to have been swept off at Apete, a community of over 20,000 inhabitants located in Ido Local Government and populated mainly by students of the Polytechnic Ibadan.

A young girl, said to have been washed away by flooding, was rescued by some Ijaw swimmers on Saturday morning, just as the state government indicated that it had already mobilised a rescue team from the neighbouring Lagos State.

As at Saturday morning, some residents in the city defied the monthly environmental sanitation exercise to look for their family members and loved ones, as news of missing and stranded persons spread round the city.

Many people were said to have been stranded on house tops for several hours without any reprieve, while several others were stranded at the Polytechnic Road since Friday night on their way home as a result of the flooding.

Those living in the Apete area were reportedly stranded as the bridge linking the community with other parts of the city had collapsed. They had to travel through Eruwa Town, 55 kilometers away, to link other parts of the city.

The state Deputy Governor, Mr. Alake Adeyemo, said the state had hired a helicopter from Lagos State for the rescue of citizens and distribution of relief materials to victims of the flooding.

He added that the helicopter would be used to access the affected areas, while giving an order for two relief camps to be set up in Apete and Odo-Ona communities as palliative measures to the flooding.

The police and the National Emergency Management Agency confirmed 12 persons dead from the flood disaster.

Mr Iyiola Akande, the South-West Zonal Director of NEMA, told the News Agency of Nigeria five others were missing in the flood.

Similarly, the Police Spokesman in the state, Mr Femi Okanlawon, said five people were found dead at Odo-Ona Elewe in Oluyole Local Government Area.

Mr Oladipo Kareem, the Oyo state Director of Fire Service, also said officials of the service rescued 28 persons trapped in the flood.

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