Lagos asks those in flood-prone areas to relocate

The Lagos state government has asked residents living in flood-prone areas to relocate.

Babatunde Adejare, commissioner for environment, gave the advice in a statement issued on Sunday.

He urged residents to remain calm and vigilant in the wake of the torrential rain experienced in the state in the last few days.

Victoria Island, Lekki, Ikoyi and Oniru are among areas which experienced flooding after incessant rainfall on Saturday.

“Like we have been telling them, if the rain still persists, please don’t go out of your homes, except you are living by the coast or by the low line,” he said.

“If you are one of those, you have to move upland, move away from the coast until the rain recedes. But if you are living upland and it’s raining persistently and it’s not necessary or compulsory for you to go out, please stay indoors.”

After inspecting the affected areas, Adejare said the government had activated its emergency response system to respond efficiently where necessary.

“We are on top of the situation. The government is concerned by the recent occurrence of flooding in some parts of Victoria Island, Lekki, Oniru and its environs and our emergency lines 112 and 767 are open 24/7 for residents to report any emergency situation,” he said.

The commissioner urged residents in the habit of dumping refuse indiscriminately especially in drainage channels to stop forthwith.

He said dumping refuse in drainages meant to take flood water to the lagoon, blocks such channels and as such had dire consequences that could lead to loss of lives and property.

“The lagoon is swollen up, there is high tide, so it would lock on our outfalls, the water would not recede or go into the lagoon as fast as it used to be, so that’s one of the main reason why we are having flooding all over the place and coupled with our own manmade problems such as people blocking the drainage channels, people even building on drainage channels, that’s what has also been causing all these problems,” he said.

“That is a criminal thing to do, it is not good, their actions can lead to loss of lives and definitely to damage of properties, so they should stop it because it would affect some people adversely.

“You do not need to dump refuse in drainages, eventually we would come to pick them up and with our improved services through the reforms that we are carrying out, there would not be anything like that, we would be evacuating solid waste faster than we have done.”