Massive Flood Wreaks Havoc in Ogun, Residents in Parts of Abeokuta and Isheri Worst Hit

The heavy rainfall in past days in Ogun State, has resulted in massive flood, forcing scores of people from their homes in parts of the state.

Scores of residents are still battling with the flooding of their homes on Tuesday, following the heavy rainfall, which began last Friday night, in parts of the state.

Mostly affected were residents at Abule Otun and Lafenwa, located close to the bank of Ogun River in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Also, scores of residents at Isheri and Arepo, off the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Warewa, are battling with the flood water from Ogun River, whose level has risen in the past few days.

The water level of the river has risen significantly in the past one week, following the heavy rainfall recorded since last week, and the release of excess water from the Oyan Dam in Abeokuta, which is now at its peak for the year.

At Lafenwa and Abule Otun, several of the residents had abandoned their flooded homes for safe places.

The flooding situation was more worrisome at Isheri and Arepo, where residents were taken unaware by the sudden invasion of the area by flood water from Ogun River since last week.

Ogun state had been identified by the climate forecasting agencies, as one of the states to experience heavy rainfall and massive flooding, during the 2023 rainy season.

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Following the prediction, the state government had directed residents in the flood prone areas and areas on the bank of rivers to relocate to safe places.

The community leader, Kelani Bashir, noted that the community started experiencing flooding when a bridge was constructed over the river, which required the dredging of some parts of the river. He lamented that several efforts made to get the government to reconstruct a water channel that can help to channel the water have proved abortive.

Bashir said, “The problem of flooding started when a bridge was constructed over the Ogun River to ease movement, but during the construction, dredging was made to pave the way for water flow, and since then, that has been the point through which our community gets flooded.

“The flooding often affects most of the houses in the lowland area in this community, and we have made several appeals to the government to help us see to this situation, but it has not yielded any positive result.”

He appealed to Governor Abiodun to help reconstruct the drainage channel between the river and the community to prevent flooding caused by the river’s overflow.

 “If our government can help us reconstruct the drainage channel that is between the community and the river by making it taller, it will prevent water from flooding our community. Governor Abiodun should please come to our rescue,” he concluded.

When contacted, the Press Officer, Ogun State Ministry of Environment, Rotimi Oduniyi, noted that residents in flood-prone areas have been forced to move to uplands so as to avoid casualties, but they have been adamant. He noted that an assessment team will be deployed to the community immediately for necessary actions.