A heavy downpour in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja on Friday evening has left no fewer than 116 buildings submerged by flood in the affected areas, Africa Today News, New York has gathered.
The floods left a path of devastation in their wake, and the residents of Trademore Estate along the Lugbe-Airport axis bemoaned their losses.
Around 8 am, gentle showers developed into a continuous deluge that surprised the locals.
Due to the abrupt flooding, the drainage systems were unable to handle the volume of water, which caused a quick rise in floodwaters that inundated the estate’s entrance.
One of the victims, who confided in reporters revealed that he narrowly escaped being carried away by the waves, adding that his car and a batch of bread meant for delivery that morning, could not be salvaged.
‘Thank God I can swim. I nearly drowned. There was also someone in front of me who was struggling but I do not know what happened to him. It was after I got to that point that people were able to help me,’ he added.
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Some residents, however, blamed the government for the perennial flooding in the area.
A resident whose name was given as Segun Akin, said, ‘I am a major stakeholder here. I have been here for 10 to 11 years. The volume of water that came into Trademore five years ago is not the same volume that is coming into Trademore this year. We tried to talk to the government about looking at the volume of water that comes into Trademore from the Galadimawa axis. My house is just at the back of the canal. I have never seen such a volume of water before coming into Trademore. As long as that water from the Galadimawa axis is not controlled, there is no way it can be contained here.’’
Responding to the allegation, the Director General of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Dr Abass Idriss, said the government should instead be blamed for not clearing and demolishing the estate earlier, adding that the entire estate sat on a waterway.
Meanwhile, FEMA, in a statement signed by its Head of Public Affairs, Nkechi Isa, said no life was lost to the flood.
Isa, however, revealed that no fewer than 116 houses were submerged.
The statement also dismissed reports on social media that a resident on the estate went missing in the floods.