Agony of Gwagwalada flood victims

On July 28, heavy flood wreaked havoc and claimed lives and property in Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Since the sad incident, the lives of some of the victims are yet to return to normal.

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Daily Trust Saturday’s reporter, who went round to speak with some of the victims, observed that about 60 per cent of them were still groaning amid lack of shelter and food.

Mr. Ibechukwu Ejike, a vulcaniser and father of six whose house was affected by the flood in Anguwar Dodo, said life had been difficult for him and his family since the incident.

Mr. Ejike said since the incident, he and his family had been staying in a single room given to him by a neighbour.

He said: “Since the incident, things have been difficult for me and my family; as even the vulcanising work that I am doing; there is no patronage, especially during this rainy season.

“Sometimes when I carry my engine to the roadside, I end up getting either N1,000 or N1,200 from morning to evening before I close and go back and handover the money to my wife to buy foodstuff.”

Ejike, who is a native of Arochukwu in Abia State, said he had been residing in Anguwar Dodo for over 13 years.

According to him,  it was through vulcanising that he built a two-bedroom house in Anguwar Dodo.

He said although he was given some relief materials, especially foodstuff and condiments by the area council through the support of the FCT Minister of State, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, he, however, wanted the government to assist him with a good shelter .

Another flood victim, Salihu Ibrahim, whose house was destroyed at Anguwar T- Junction along Ikwa Road, said he had to move his family to a temporary shelter.

Ibrahim said life had not been easy for him and his family, explaining that he had managed to build a mud house from the farm harvest he made few years back.

Ibrahim, who is a father of five, said his house was completely destroyed by the flood.

Ibrahim further said: “Sometimes, the day that I don’t go to the farm, I will go to the motor park to load passengers or go to the fruits market to off load goods from trucks to get some money to buy foodstuff and take home.”

He said since some relief materials were given to him by the area council authorities through the Minister of State for the FCT, no other assistance had come his way again, even as he appealed to the government to come to his aid.

Mr. Alfred Babatope, another victim in Dagiri, close to the river bank in Gwagwalada, who also spoke with our reporter, said he had moved his family to a two- bedroom apartment which he said he rented following the flood incident.

He said life had been difficult for him and his family after the flood pulled down half of his house, even as he said his wife who was a staff nurse had been supporting the family.

Mr. Babatope said two of his children, who were undergraduates of the University of Abuja, had been at home since the outbreak of COVID-19.

“And since the flood which destroyed my house, it was my wife, who is a staff nurse of one of the hospitals here in Gwagwalada, that has been shouldering the responsibility of the house.”

Babatope, who works in a private company in Abuja as a driver, appealed to the government to come to his aid.

“I have actually made a request to the company I am working with to give me loan to enable me get another place to build a house, but until now, they have not approved my request,” he said.

Another victim in Giri community, Samuel Musa, said since his four-bedroom apartment which he built with mud block was destroyed by the flood, things had been difficult for him.

He said though he managed to move his family to a house in the area, but that he needed financial supports to rebuild his house.

“I have actually moved my family to my father’s house since they managed to escape that day.

“The major challenge I am facing now is that there is no money to rebuild the house, except after I harvest my crops,” he said.

– Illegal settlement cause of flooding –

The Director General  (DG) of the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Alhaji Abbas Idris, while speaking with our reporter via telephone, said most of the areas affected by the flood in Gwagwalada, were illegal settlements, especially in Giri community.

He said land within the affected settlements belonged to the management of the University of Abuja.

He said government would  no compensate people affected by  the flood in such area, noting that some of the residents of the area, especially those that built houses on waterways, had been warned some years back to stay away from the area.

He further said the agency had carried out several sensitisation campaigns in Anguwar Dodo area of Gwagwalada on the dangers of dumping refuse in waterways, which he said the residents failed to heed to.

“There is nothing government can do, especially to those who deliberately built houses on waterways, but if it is for relief materials, the agency has given them.”

The FEMA DG added that lack of enforcement by the area council against building of houses either close to the river bank or on waterways contributed to the collapse of houses.

“I can’t imagine, just to inaugurate Local Emergency Management Committee until this moment, Gwagwalada Area Council has not done it; except Kwali and Bwari area councils, “ he said.

“In fact, even this year, we sent them mails about the need to inaugurate a local emergency management committee, but they didn’t acknowledge it,” he added.

He stated that the responsibility of flood control was the responsibility of all stakeholders.

The Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha, could not be reached for comment, as he did not pick calls put across to him.