IDPs in Lagos-Ogun boundary communities cry for help

Residents of the riverine communities displaced by floods in Ifo local government area of Ogun State have appealed to the state government to put an end to their endless misery The affected communities include Ojodu Abiodun, Denro, Agbado and Akute and Isheri. In these areas, displacement of residents has become an annual affair, especially when […]

Residents of the riverine communities displaced by floods in Ifo local government area of Ogun State have appealed to the state government to put an end to their endless misery

The affected communities include Ojodu Abiodun, Denro, Agbado and Akute and Isheri.

In these areas, displacement of residents has become an annual affair, especially when it rains heavily.

Eko Trust learnt that most house owners in the areas bought plots of land there about 20 years ago oblivious of the danger ahead. Many of them had fled urban Lagos in the face of skyrocketing rent and accommodation challenge to Ogun State where they bought plots of land at affordable prices and erected modest structures.

As it turned out, it has been somewhat like running away from frying pan fire. As has become their lot every year, many of the house owners and residents were forced to vacate their homes when the rains are heavy and seek refuge elsewhere until the end of the rainy season when the water recedes. Their woes are compounded whenever water is released from the Oyan Dam into the Ogun River.

When our correspondent visited the areas, he observed the displaced residents with their families sheltered in a hall owned by someone they hailed as a good Samaritan.

The hall, it was gathered, used to be a church before the owner relocated to another place. It has, however, been, for the past five years, a shelter for the displaced residents.

Women and children were seen inside the hall crowded together with luggage. Each family has created space within the hall where they sleep, cook and do other house chores. Our correspondent saw a baby girl of less than six months inside an insecticide-treated net.

The refugees were apprehensive that the walls of the hall, already cracked, could soon give way and expose them to homelessness once again.

One of them, Mrs Esther Atolagbe, told Eko Trust, “I have been living here since 2003. This problem was alien to us until about five years ago when we could no longer sleep in our houses. The rain that displaced us started in September and we all had to relocate.

“We were actually caught by surprise. Our clothes, furniture and other valuables are gone. The houses are no longer in good condition. It is no longer comfortable for living.”

Mrs Atolagbe, a trader in Lagos, said the water actually receded at a point and the residents, hopeful of a reprieve, returned to their homes. But a heavier round of rain descended on the houses and the residents were sent scurrying to the ‘IDP centre’.

Another victim, Mrs Kudirat Ajao, said they would have vacated the area completely but they were financially incapacitated. “The trauma of living here is unquantifiable, but we are left with no option. You can’t go and start paying rent again having toiled hard to erect these houses. Besides, house rent in Lagos is not cheap,” she said.

The residents had expressed their frustration when an aspirant for the Ifo/Ewekoro federal constituency seat, Adeleke Adewolu, toured the Isheri-Akute-Ajuwon and Agbado-Oke-Aro local council development areas of Ogun State two months ago. But as Ajao told our correspondent, they were not expecting Adewolu to provide them instant succour. Their appeal, she said, goes to the state governor, Ibikunle Amosun, to come to their aid and address the flooding challenge.