Thousands of residents have been displaced in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, and several other communities following flooding caused by torrential rainfall.
The Nation gathered that the downpour, which lasted for several days, resulted in severe flooding across several communities, in line with earlier forecasts by the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet).
In Osogbo, affected areas include Capital, Baruwa, Oke-Ayepe, Sasa, Ijetu, Famson Street and Gbodofon, among others.
Several communities outside the state capital were also affected, including Osunjela, Mukoro in Ilesa, Ijaregbe in Ijesa-Obokun and Kuti-Iwo.
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The flooding submerged homes, shops and business premises, forcing residents to flee to safer locations.
The residence of Nigerian Tribune correspondent, Dr Adeolu Adeyemo, in the Capital area was among those affected, forcing him and his family members to evacuate.
Adeyemo said he left home for work on Tuesday morning but returned to find his residence in Zone 10 completely submerged.
He said about 200 residents had been displaced in the area.
‘People had to run for their lives, leaving behind all their valuables,’ Adeyemo said.
Chairman of the Zone 10 Oke-Arungbo Community, Dr Bisi Oluwadamilare, said the community had not witnessed flooding of such magnitude since 2019.
He added that neighbouring Zones 11 and 12 were also severely affected, appealing to emergency response agencies to urgently intervene and provide relief to residents who suffered losses.
Another resident, Mrs Adesola Kayode, said the flooding had left several families homeless.
She called on the government to urgently dredge local rivers and waterways as part of measures to prevent a recurrence.
The situation was similarly severe at Baruwa Estate in the Ogo-Oluwa area, where residents were displaced after the nearby Osun River overflowed its banks following the heavy rainfall.
However, the Osun State Government, through the Commissioner for Environment and Sanitation, Mayowa Adejoorin, attributed the flooding to the activities of residents.
He said ‘We moved around and observed that, in specific cases, this flooding is often self-inflicted, like indiscriminate dumping of refuse across waterways.
‘We charged the town planning office to do their work, we identified some structures at the riverbank like shops and kiosks, and even houses, that affected the free flow of water including line drainages that are blocked in the presence of the house owners, they are blocked, so all these contributed to the flooding.’