Residents count losses as flood gives warning in parts of FCT

As the rains intensify, floods are giving warning signs to residents in some parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). Residents of Lokogoma are still counting their losses a year after flooding wreaked havoc on their community. Mr Kenneth Nwogu and his two children got drown after their vehicle was washed away by flood along […]

As the rains intensify, floods are giving warning signs to residents in some parts of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Residents of Lokogoma are still counting their losses a year after flooding wreaked havoc on their community.

Mr Kenneth Nwogu and his two children got drown after their vehicle was washed away by flood along the road in August 2017. 

The clamour for the construction of access road with proper drainage system by the government in the area after the tragedy has died down but the threat is still lingering.  

The chairman, Lokogoma District Residents’ Association, Mr Joseph Nnorom, said government has only responded to their plight with promises and excuses, adding that the residents were now restive as the rains have begun falling in torrents.

“We have exhausted our patience and we might go to the National Assembly. The status of that road as a death trap has not changed since the death of Mr Kenneth,” they said.

Following the deaths, the residents protested to the FCT Minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, and he promised through the Permanent Secretary to construct temporary access roads to estates in the area and also provide palliatives to enable residents safely access their homes. 

Ten months after the incident, Lokogoma residents still find it difficult to get to their homes because neither access roads nor palliative measures had been provided by the government as promised. 

“All they did was cover some portions with laterite and they left; that has been the only intervention since that time and the road has deteriorated,” Nnorom said. 

He said regular visits to the Engineering Department of the Federal Capital Development Authority also yielded nothing but empty promises. 

“Whatever they did was cosmetic and to buy time. It wasn’t done in good faith. If it was resources constraint they should come out clean and tell us,” he said. 

Mr Nnorom said a letter was issued by the FCDA that the construction work will start on June 9 but they were yet to see the contractors on site. 

“I have a copy of the letter but up till now nothing has been done. I went to FCDA on the 14th and they said Gilmor ran into some problem and the issue of economic trees in the areas that they needed to compensate the natives for. And I was asking them where the economic trees were. I have not seen any in Lokogoma junction. So where are these economic trees that stopped mobilization to site?” he said. 

Nnorom who led a protest to the FCT minister’s office in August last year, said they might be forced to channel their petition to the National Assembly

“We felt it was okay to go to the FCT minister as a mark of protocol and respect before going to the National Assembly but that hasn’t brought any changes other than promises and failures,” he also said. 

Mr Benjamin Nruku, who resides in I-Pet II estate, said they were not happy with government “because they have done nothing on the state of the road. Government is yet to fulfill its promise and the road has worsened due to neglect and the wet season.”

Some residents however said the construction company has been deployed to the area as some sections of the road has been cordoned off.

Nruku said some residents have been forced to relocate to other areas because of the dangers of flooding which included loss of lives, accidents and damage to their vehicles.  

Aso Chronicle observed that there were three makeshift bridges constructed by the residents, leading to I-Pent II Estate. Two of the bridges were made with empty shipping containers while concrete was used in constructing the third. 

Motorists detest plying the roads in the numerous estates in Lokogoma, especially during rainy season.

“The rain that fell last  Saturday made several people stay indoors in this estate. They had to wait for several hours before the water which covered the roads subsided. In fact most of the houses in that estate were submerged,” Nruku added.

He said having waited for the government for more than six months; the residents took it upon themselves to make the road a bit better by taxing house owners N150,000 each to fix it.  

“The residents have to mobilise themselves to see how they can fix the roads. They contributed money to buy empty shipping containers to serve as bridge on the road,” he said.  

Hundreds of residents have been cut off due to the on-going construction of the makeshift bridge to divert flood in the area. Though they are left with three alternative routes, they said they are longer while school buses had to stop at the bridge and students wade through the water to their homes. 

Mr Sele Pojina resides in I-Pent II Estate and he said some residents were usually apprehensive whenever it rained especially when they were in their offices in the city or far from their houses.  

Pojina said, “If it rains you are stuck. You have to maybe wait for about four hours before you can leave your house. If it rains early in the morning or late at night, it gets risky to either leave your house or return home,” he said.

He said residents spent a lot in ensuring that they safely drive through the road. 

“The container was done by I-Pent II Estate. We have not seen the government, the last time I saw them was two weeks ago when they came and just surveyed the area and left. We have not seen them do anything. All we are seeing on the road is self-help projects by the residents. 

“We are taxing ourselves; government did mention something like palliative, even at that we have not seen anything like that. People just came from the FCDA and the supposed contractor that wants to handle the job. They just stand, look and walked away.  

“Those containers are what we are using to divert water, the water passes through the containers, it is self-help. We are just helping ourselves since the government is not doing its job,” he added.

At Jubilation Bethel Estate, residents had also contributed money to channel flood water into a stream near the estate. 

Meanwhile, tragedy also struck at Karshi, a satellite own in the FCT, on Saturday, June 2, 2018 as a result of heavy rains.  Flood waters killed three people who were travelling in a Toyota Sienna bus.

Other residents also suffered losses in the devastating flood. 

Mr Lawal Musa, 31, a car wash owner and a resident of Karshi said the rain started around 6pm and ended at around 9pm. 

He said the flood destroyed a drainage channel in the area, adding that the flood ruined the spot he prepared as his car wash and displaced a vehicle he had washed earlier. 

Banana plantations and farmlands were badly damaged as a result of the flooding.  

The Director General of the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Abbas G. Idriss, said the agency could do nothing about the flooding in Lokogoma because infrastructures were needed to avert the natural disaster. 

He, however, said the agency was focused on ensuring that such dangers were eliminated or reduced. 

“The issue of flood in Lokogoma is different because it has to do with infrastructure which is not our responsibility. What we are doing as an agency is to focus on those areas because people are living in the areas. 

“We give it our priority because if there is anything they will be most affected. So our own strategy is to drastically eliminate or reduce the risk around that area so we are also concentrating on having campaigns in the areas and at the same time talking to our sister agencies like the engineering department to ensure that the needed infrastructure are available to help in saving lives and property. 

He said residents should desist from building on water ways and flood plains and also stop blocking drainages. 

“What we are doing in collaboration with other sister agencies is to indicate to these agencies the structures built on flood plain areas. Immediately we identify the structures, it is the responsibility of development control to clear them. 

“If it is blockage of drainage, we call on AEPB or Facility Management and Maintenance Department. This is what we have been doing before the rainy season,” he said.