Property destroyed, residents stranded as rain ravages Ibadan

Motorists and residents of Lalupon, Ejioku, Olodo Garage, and Olodo Bank along Ibadan/Iwo road were, yesterday, stranded, following the collapse of a connecting bridge during a heavy downpour on Sunday.

The resultant flood, which ravaged Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, also destroyed property worth millions of naira.

The Guardian gathered that the downpour, which started Sunday afternoon till late night, left many areas flooded in Ibadan, while vehicles and houses were submerged in the deluge, compelling residents to abandon their homes.

A stranded resident, identified simply as Fashina, who was unable to access his house due to the attendant flood, recounted how he slept at the roadside rather than risking his life.

He said: “It is better to stay back and monitor my wife and children at home through phone than for me to enter the water. I was inside a commercial car when I noticed that the flood had overflowed the bridge.

“Some vehicles were trying to maneuver to the other side, but I told the driver to drop me, it was at the point everyone noticed that the bridge had even washed away.”

Meanwhile, officers of Oyo State Road Transport Management Authority (OYRTMA) arrived at the scene to ensure orderliness.
Similarly, residents of Ido Local Council of the state have lost property worth millions of naira to flood after a heavy rainfall on Friday.

It was gathered that the downpour affected the means of livelihood of hundreds of residents in Omi Adio, Ido and Apata.

The rain also affected vehicles and buildings at Omi Adio market, while farmlands and fish ponds were also washed away by the torrential downpour.

An affected farmer, Festus Adesina, said about 80 fish farms were affected by the flood.

He lamented that he invested over N10 million in his fish farm lost to the flood.

Another fish farmer with five fish ponds, Isiaka Kamorudeen, said he lost all the fishes in the ponds.

An affected trader, Alhaja Alimot Adeleke, appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to assist the victims, claiming she lost bags of garri, bags of cassava flour and other foodstuff as a result of the flood, which she claimed was sustaining her family of four after the demise of her husband.