A day-long heavy downpour, on Friday, rendered some communities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) homeless, even as communities such as Kuchiyakwo, Shetukwo and Shadadi were completely cut off from Kuje, headquarters of one of the six area councils in Abuja.
This was even as unabated downpour in Kafanchan, Kaduna statel, which began on Friday and ran through to Saturday has forced residents of Aduan, Ungwan Musa and Soba areas of Kafanchan to live in fear of flooding any moment from now
From Abuja, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the heavy rainfall has flooded some houses and washed away the road linking Kuchiyakwo ECWA Church and its extension in the community.
Some residents of the community, who spoke with the NAN on Saturday, described the state of the road as devastating and called on Kuje Area Council authorities for immediate action.
Abraham Gado, a resident whose house was flooded, attributed the havoc to lack of standard drainage and improper building by some residents.
Gado said: “The district head and some stakeholders of the community have had series of meetings to find a lasting solution to this road but have yielded no result.
“The road has no drainage and some have built their houses very close to the road instead of giving some space.
“The community leader and the stakeholders on regular basis have advised people to stop erecting structures very close to the road side but they refused to listen.
“The past Kuje Area Council administration promised to construct drainages and put the road in good shape but nothing has been done.
“If this kind of rain continues for a long time, many houses in this community will be seriously washed down.”
Gado added that a tax force was appointed to stop people from erecting structures at the road side but some residents failed to adhere to instructions.
Hadiza Musa, another affected resident of the community, described the flood as a strange disaster that needed immediate response from the Satellite Town Development Authority.
Musa said: “I can’t even move out with my car because the road has been completely washed off and we can’t gain access to the main road.
“This disaster requires an emergency response from the STDA or else some houses will not last another year.
“The previous Kuje Area Council Administration promised it was going to rehabilitate the road but nothing was done about it.
She said: “We want the relevant authorities to come and address the state of this disaster and put the road in good shape.”
And in Kafanchan, NAN also reports that most parts of the roads and pedestrian ways have been covered with water while some business premises have remained closed because of the flood.
Some of the residents, who spoke with the NAN, expressed worry that if the rainfall continued for more days, they would be forced to start evacuating their valuables to safe areas.
Sani Abubakar, who resides at Aduwan area said that the situation had remained the same in the past three years he had lived in the area.
Abubakar said: “Although the drainage system behind my house was reconstructed before the rains this year, nobody can tell if it can help this year’s flood because of the amount of rainfall.
“In the previous year, water enters our living rooms over flooding the entire compound.”
Grace Samuel of Ungwan Musa said although the area was prone to flood, residents do not have alternative houses to move into as majority of them lived in their personal houses.
Samuel said: “We only resort to prayers whenever it rains like this as we don’t have anywhere to run to.”
Ndibusi Chucks, an electronics dealer at Soba Street, told NAN that he had to evacuate his goods to prevent them from being damaged by water.
Chucks said: “As you can see, the water level has already covered the road and is gradually threatening to enter the shop as such a stitch in time saves nine.”
Meanwhile, business premises have remained deserted due to the continued rainfall while the roads now witness low vehicular movements within the metropolis. [myad]
