No fewer than 35 communities in the Ajumose Area Community Development Association in Adoodo-Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State have expressed fear of impending floods due to the recent overflow of the river in the area, which has taken over their access road.
In an interview with PUNCH Metro, residents of the communities lamented that the education of their children and businesses had been halted due to the heavy flood that had always taken over the access road connecting the communities to other parts of the state whenever there was heavy rainfall.
Communities affected are Mosafejo, Onjuwan, Toluwalase, Ajumoni, Idera, Ilisa, Oke-odo, Love and Peace, Island, Liasu Balogun, Itura-Ilisa, Victory CDA, among others
Our correspondent, who visited the communities after an overnight rainfall, observed that the bridge under which the river passed through was overflowing with water, while the sides of the bridge were filled with swamp, hindering the flow of the river.
According to the residents, whenever there is heavy rainfall, students are forced to stay away from school for fear of drowning in the heavy current of water that takes over the road, and businesses are shut down until the water subsides.
The community head, Akinola Adeola, decried the pitiful situation of members of the communities whenever the road was flooded, noting that the flood often denied residents access to health facilities and education due to the absence of schools and health facilities in the communities.
Adeola said, “Our challenge is the lack of a good road, especially the situation with Mosa River, which often overflows the road. Students are denied access to school, while adults can’t go to their businesses.
“During the rainy season, most people often desert their houses, and we cannot access the health centre because the available one is far from our communities. We sometimes have to gather ourselves as adults to monitor the movement of persons, especially students, to avoid drowning.”
The Vice Chairman of the Community Development Association, Joseph Ijiola, decried the neglect by the government despite the efforts of the communities to communicate their pain to the local and state governments, which has yielded no results.
Ijiola noted that officials from the state Ministry of Environment came to inspect the situation after a letter was sent by the communities to the ministry, adding that they (officials) had yet to take any action.
“There are 35 CDAs in Ajumose zone. We have been experiencing the situation for about three years now. Each time there is flooding, transportation in and out of the community is often halted, which paralyses business and education for residents and children in the communities.
“We have written letters to the government, and a team was sent to inspect the situation. I followed up with the team and was informed that a report had been submitted, but since June when the letter was written, nothing had been done about it. Now, there are issues of flooding here and there; our minds are no longer at peace,” he said.
A resident, John Omotosho, lamented that he lost his mobile phone given to him by his children to the flood when he tried to pass through. He claimed that this affected his business as he lost contact with some of his associates.
Efforts to get the reactions of the press officer, Ogun State Ministry of Environment, Rotimi Oduniyi, and the Special Adviser to Ogun Governor on Works and Infrastructure, Ade Akinsanya, proved abortive as both did not respond to calls and messages to their lines as of the time of filing this report.
