Again, flood wreaks havoc as Osun River sacks residents

Clement Adeyi, Osogbo

Residents of Osogbo, the Osun State capital, are now counting their losses as incessant rainfall which led to an upsurge of the Osun River waters at the weekend, displaced them and also destroyed property worth millions of naira.

The torrential rain which started on Thursday evening and continued on Friday and Saturday night also wrecked serious havoc in some parts of the city.

Some of the affected areas included Gbodofon, Awosuru, Onitodunu, Baruwa, Idowu Ajibola, Oke Arungbo Estate (Zone 10 & 11 and Ibu-Amo community among others.

Our correspondent gathered that the  house of the Baale of Ibu-Amo also suffered ruins while other houses around the area were left in a shambles.

We gathered that the surge from the River Osun, after it had overflowed its bank,  made it difficult for the residents of the area to salvage their belongings and were subsequently destroyed.

At Onirodunu, Baruwa area, the river surge started in the midnight on Friday.

The flood flowed uncontrollably into the apartments of the people living very close to the river.

They, however, managed to salvage some of their belongings but lost several others to the disaster.

Some of the victims, while counting their losses, lamented that it was the flood that  woke them up from their sleep when it caught up with them while still in bed  after submerging their belongings.

A carpentry workshop located very close to the river was submerged by the heavy flood.

A mechanic, Mr Kamoru Omolade, lamented that the flood carried away some vehicle engines valued at N 750,000 naira.

He added that about five mini inter-city buses were also submerged by the flood.

“It was just like a play when we noticed the surge from the river. In fact, it had already got to my chest before I could remove some of the engines that customers brought to me for servicing,” Omolade said.

Another resident, Moshood Adigun, lamented that the residents never believed that Osun River could overflow its banks to an extent of displacing them because most of the houses were very far from the river.

Another resident, who identified herself as Mummy Precious, as well as others described the incident as unfortunate.

They called on the state government to come to their aid.

“We are calling on the government under the leadership of Governor Gboyega Oyetola to come to our aid. We are in need of his assistance urgently,” Mummy Precious said.

“Government should help us. We are not planning to relocate but we need help,” other residents chorused.

It would be recalled that a similar flood disaster occurred in Osogbo in July, 2010, and last week in which  property worth millions of naira were destroyed.