…Monarch appeals to govt over channelization

Early Sunday morning, a heavy downpour in Fiditi Town of Oyo state, destroyed some buildings and damaged properties in different homes.

The destruction was caused by erosion occasioned by a lack of adequate channelisation, particularly at Modeni Layout of the town.

Lamenting the losses incurred, one of the residents whose house was badly affected, Segun Oke, attributed the flooding incident to poor channelisation of the river close by. According to him, “the flood has caused a lot of damage to my compound and my house.

Part of my fence has collapsed, thereby exposing us to insecurity. The erosion that it created has washed away a lot of items in my compound. There is a need for immediate attention from the government to save us from this menace. In fact, I can’t quantify the amount of loss this has caused me in terms of naira value. Many other houses are also affected, he said.

Speaking with the Onifiditi of Fiditi, Oba Sakiru Oyewole Adekola-Oyelere, Ajani-Eedu II, he said the flood affected some houses, and it was caused by poor channelisation of the river around the site.

Apart from the erosion that destroyed fences of some people, the flood flowed into the residential places of many people, causing them to spread their carpets and rugs outside to dry. About four houses were seriously affected. We nevertheless thank God that no building collapsed and no life was lost.

“Our plea, however, is that we are calling on the state government to come and help us channelise the river around here so that it will no longer be causing erosion.

The stream needs to be expanded to allow free flow of water to its rightful paths. When such is done, it will prevent future occurrence whenever it rains again”, the monarch told New Telegraph.

Some other residents spoken to said flooding of such magnitude occurred about nine years ago, but presently, the lack of government attention to the streams and rivers within the community has caused the repeat.

They appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde through the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) to come to their rescue, lest a more devastating occurrence happen again.