Ekiti government assures flood victims of assistance

Ekiti State Government has assured victims of flooding in Ilawe Ekiti in Ekiti Southwest Local Government of assistance to mitigate the loss incurred in the disaster.

Deputy Governor, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, gave this assurance during an on-the-spot visit to the town to assess the level of damage done by the flood caused by continuous downpour. Property worth millions of Naira including residential buildings, business centres, and places of worship, farms, vehicles and goods were destroyed by flood.

The Deputy Governor has directed the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to commence immediate documentation of victims with a view to assisting them cushion the effect of the loss. Describing the damage done by the downpour and the accompanying flood as sad and disheartening, Egbeyemi who was joined during the visit to the affected neighborhoods by the Alawe of Ilawe Ekiti, Oba Adebanji Alabi, sympathized with the victims, promising prompt help through SEMA. He directed the Chairman of Ekiti Southwest Local Government, Amire Kolade, to assess other parts of the town affected and report back for further action and appealed to residents to be more prepared on the weather forecast of the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NIMET) of flood disasters in most states this year.

Egbeyemi who promised that they’d do everything possible to avert such occurrence in the nearest future disclosed that measures had been put in place to assist victims.

Affected residents who narrated their ordeal described the flood as unprecedented, calling on the state government to save their lives and businesses. Neighborhoods affected include Oke Ibedo, Iro, Ijuku, Araromi, Adin, Oke Emo, Afuremu, Irorin, Okepa and Aaye. The rampaging flood also pulled down the fence of the Alawe’s palace. The Alawe, Oba Alabi, who described the disaster as the first in the history of the town, sought the intervention of both the local and state government for the victims. The monarch who is also the Chairman, Council of Traditional Rulers in Ekiti State, blamed the flood on lack of drainage and good layout in some streets. Other victims who counted their losses in the flood bemoaned their fate as they had been rendered many homeless and lost property they had struggled to acquire over the years.

According to NIMET, Ekiti is among the 28 states of the federation to be affected by heavy rains and massive flooding between September and October 2020 which prompted the state government to embark on sensitization programmes for residents on safety measures to prevent flooding.