Flood destroys household properties in Anambra community

The residents of Ogidi community in Anambra State has appealed to the state and federal governments to come to their aid due to flood, that has destroyed household properties.

The palace of the Igwe of Ogidi, Chief Alex Onyido said, “The flood has been disturbing for the past 10 years. During the time of the past administration led by Mr. Peter Obi, he embarked upon rehabilitation of old Onitsha-Awka Road and the construction company channelled the floodwater from other communities like Umunnnachi, Umudioka and Aforigwe down here in my community. The idea was that they would pipe it down to the nearby river but they abandoned it and since then this problem continued.

“The flood has done havoc to my people, including myself. When rainy season comes, it will overflow and divert to people’s homes and roads, causing havoc. You can see that people no longer live close to the place. In past years, some people drowned, and one of the bodies was seen floating in the morning in the place. People are drowning here every year.

“Anytime it rains, residents and road users are always trapped, they cannot cross to the other side of the road and houses will be submerged.

“Some of the road users when their vehicles are trapped there, they will be at the mercy of the bad boys, who either rob them or extort money from them before they will push the vehicle out of the place. The flooding has created a lot of problems for us,”  he added.

A resident of the area Mr. Okechukwu Okoye, stated that, “The flood is affecting us seriously. At times, when we are sleeping at night, the flood will wake us up and we begin to remove our property.

“It destroys our household property and our farms. We are begging and calling on government to re-channel the waterway down to the river.”

Chief Alex Onyido appealed to the federal and state governments to come to their aid. The Federal Government can use the ecological fund because it is a natural disaster.

READ ALSO: Damaturu residents cry out as flood submerges 7 communities

Kamila/The Sun