‘Blocked bridge causes flooding in Obadore-Iba community’

When the Lagos State Government finished the construction of LASU-Isheri Road in Iba, a suburb of the state, almost two years ago, the residents heaved a sigh of relief.

Prior to that, the road was a death trap. But while the road was being constructed, Obadore/Iba Bridge was blocked to enable the construction workers to work effectively.

But after the completion of the road, the bridge was not opened and it is now creating problems for the residents. Whenever it rains, their community is always flooded, a situation they attributed to the blocked bridge.

They said since this year’s rains began, the floods in their community had refused to dry up resulting in artificial river.

They said they now lived in fear as snakes and other dangerous reptiles were now found in the community.

To express their grievances, they staged a peaceful protest and appealed to Governor Babatunde Fashola to come to their rescue.

A landlord, Olusegun Akinyemi, complained that their predicament was compounded by a small culvert constructed by a construction company during the construction of a new road in Iba Town.

He also said the culvert at Ipaye, along the LASU-Isheri Road, was also part of the problem.

Akinyemi said, “While appreciating the efforts of the state government in constructing the road, I urge the ministries of the Environment and the Physical Planning and Rural Development to bring relief to the residents.

“It has been observed that the culvert at Eleshi-Nla Bus Stop at Pako along the new site has been blocked by refuse, water sachets and all manner of nuisances because the culvert is too small to take the large volume of water coming from Obadore/Iba Bridge.

“More worrisome is that Ipaye culvert is already cracking due to the large volume of water flowing through the culvert when it rains.”

Another landlord, Mr. Sakiru Lawal, corroborated Akinyemi’s position, saying the culverts at Eleshin-Nla and Ipaye should be converted to a mini-bridge.

He also called on the appropriate ministries to clear the drainage paths of any encumbrance including houses blocking the drainage paths without further delay.

He maintained that the floods became noticeable when the roads and the bridge were completed.

A member of the community development association and landlord, Mr. Fatai Idris, said, “As I speak to you, our children cannot go to school. For more than a month now, my children have not gone to school since the rainy season began.

The whole area is flooded forcing some residents to stay indoors for days without coming outside.

“Those who desire to go out of their apartments have to board canoes. A flat surface has become a river. In fact, we have been passing through hell all these months. Government should quickly come to our aid.”

When PUNCH Metro visited the area on Sunday, it was discovered that streets such as Obagoriola Avenue, Akin Oyelami Close, Suara, Adeboye, Wilson Ijekwane Street, among others were seriously hit.

Also, canoe operators were seen carrying distressed residents to dry land.