At least one person has been feared dead in a flooding incident at Gate House, Gold Crescent, Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) Bungalow Scheme, Isolo, Lagos.
Following the incident, residents have expressed fear over the persistent flooding that continues to jeopardize the lives and properties of people in the estate.
Some of the residents said the flood got worse after a heavy downpour on Tuesday. The Chairman of Gold Cresent, Jakande Estate, Emmanuel Ezeugo, said residents had been dealing with the situation for a long time without help.
“It’s a very pathetic problem here. We’ve always had flooding. Whenever it rains, the flood enters people’s homes. It’s been worse since 2007,” Ezeugo said.
“The water from other canals all the way from Idimu is channelled to our street. The canal is just after our street. Sometimes, when there’s no single drop of rain, there will still be a raging flood.
“A woman known as Mama Mary died in the flood two years ago. The rain carried a corpse through our street to the canal. It carried a man’s vehicle to a distance of about 67km before an obstruction blocked it. Nobody could go out on this street after Tuesday’s rain. It’s an ecological disaster here.”
Ezeugo said that no one within the estate had reported any missing person and that the body was yet-to-be identified as it was washed into the canal.
“We don’t know who the person is, but a fair skinned body was seen,” he said.
In a video of the Tuesday flood, people were seen standing as the flood left many of them stranded. Roads within the estate have become bad as persistent flooding damaged them. The residents have appealed to the Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu for help.
“This is our situation; the government should help our souls before more lives are lost. We already lost property to the flood. Tuesday’s flood was very pathetic,” a resident pleaded.
Ezeugo also disclosed that leaders in the estate met with the LSDPC and the state Ministry of Works many times but nothing had been done.
Responding, the spokesperson for the LSDPC, Oladipupo Olukunga, also said the estate was no longer under the control of the corporation.
“The LSDPC, Isolo, is no longer under the LSDPC as a body. When the Lagos Building Investment Company (LBIC) was set up, most of our low-cost property, especially the Jakande estate, were moved and they are now under the control of the LBIC. For the LSDPC to do anything, it has to originate from the LBIC,” Olukunga said.
He also added that the Department of Drainage Services under the Ministry of Environment would best handle the situation.
Spokesperson for the state Ministry of Environment, Kunle Adeshina, said paperworks to channel the drainage are being finalised.
“I know that there have been exchanges of correspondence. I know the drainage agency responded. The present status is that the contract for the drainage and channelisation has been awarded but the paperwork is being finalised,” he said.