Residents of Lagos State had a hectic time plying some roads in the state following the downpour that occurred on Sunday and resulted in massive flooding.
The downpour which started in the early hours of the day continued till the afternoon, submerging some sections of the roads.
The affected areas included Egbeda, Idimu, Isheri-Oshun and Akowonjo in the Alimosho Local Government Area of the state.
Our correspondent observed as vehicles meandered through the flood along some sections of the Egbeda-Idimu road.
Also, along the Idimu-Ikotun road, vehicles were seen driving against traffic after the section of the road inward Ikotun was covered with flood water.
It was a similar sight along Akowonjo Road as a section was flooded causing vehicles to drive slowly.
While expressing their frustration at the development, motorists urged the government to attend to the repeated flooding in the area.
A motorist, Kunle Salau, described the flooding as a regular sight along the road whenever it rained in the area.
He said, “This is the pain we go through whenever it rains in this area. The volume of the water often makes the road impassable for us and whenever I try to drive through the flood, the water enters my vehicle. It is getting worse. I almost had a collision with an oncoming vehicle that was driving against traffic when the rain was falling. It was when I drove past him that I discovered that he was avoiding the flood.”
The slow movement of vehicles caused by the high volume of flood water also caused gridlock in the affected areas. This also made some of the vehicles break down in between the flooded roads.
Another motorist, who identified only as Steve said the flood had damaged some roads.
He said, “The distance from the church to my home is just about a minute’s drive but I have spent a longer time on the road because of the traffic caused by the flood. This same road has gradually been damaged over the years because of this flood water. Once it dries up, you will start to see some potholes. The government should come to our rescue. It should not be allowed to get to the level where there will be loss of lives.”
Meanwhile, some commuters were stranded at various bus stops due to the unavailability of commercial buses as some of them were stuck in the gridlock. The available ones however hiked their fares.
When contacted, the Commissioner for Information, Gbenga Omotoso, said efforts were ongoing regarding the drainage channels in the state.
He said, “The state government is working on the drains and part of it is the houses that are built on the drainage channels so that the water can have spaces to flow. There is advocacy going on every day as the Ministry of Information visits places to tell the people not to dump refuse anyhow and do everything they can to support what the government is doing regarding drainage channels in the state.”
Madukwe B. Nwabuisi is an accomplished journalist renown for his fearless reporting style and extensive expertise in the field. He is an investigative journalist, who has established himself as a kamikaze reporter.
