Rainstorm renders residents homeless in Ogun

The communities affected by the rainstorm include -Oke-Aro, Matogbun, Olambe, Keredolu, Igbaotun, Araromi Oke-Odo and Adio-Alausa.

Lamenting their situation, the affected landlords and residents said that they’ve been facing hard times seeking temporary accommodation elsewhere.

A representative of the communities, who is also the Chairman of the G-7 Environmental Committee, Kazeem Agunbiade said people whose buildings were affected had been experiencing hardship coping with the situation in the community.

His words: “Floods are flowing into homes. The experience is discomforting for those who are affected. The roads are flooded a lot of the time during the rainy season. This will prevent many people from going out.

“There are some areas that are like valleys. So all the water will now deposit in that area. For five months, the water will remain stagnant. There are about three or four locations in some of these seven communities that we call waterbeds.

“In some of these areas, after the rain has gone, the landlords will deceive people and sell the buildings and leave the communities. In other places, some people just abandon their homes and disappear without looking back. Some other people moved to other communities.”

According to him, floods had claimed the lives of no fewer than two persons, adding that poor drainage systems were responsible for the flood affecting the communities.

“About three years ago, a woman and her child were buried under one of the open channels. Her corpse and that of her child were found the second day. A man also slumped and died after the flood swept away his property. We have been abandoned by the government,” he added.

When contacted, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of Ministry of Environment, Rotimi Oduniyi advised the affected community occupants to provide the letter that was written to the ministry for proper address.