3 person missing, properties worth millions destroyed as flood overrun Awka - Onitsha.

Sunday 23rd September 2015,
Awka - following a heavy rainfall which occurred in the later hours of the faithful Sunday, there were very heavy flooding at various areas of the capital city and Onitsha which caused serious traffic lumps at different points especially at the Amawbia - Nise exit road from Awka, the heavy downpour emptied it's flood into the Mpoto River which has its source at Nise overflowing it's banks thereby creating a deluge of flood on the road.

The recent flooding is more or less a repeat of the 27th July 2015 incident which rendered various roads within the city impassable; the Zik Avenue, Arthur Eze, Obinagu and Kwata roads were equally submerged. In the same incident, a truck carrying bags of sachet water was trapped by the high velocity flood which pulled the vehicle into an adjoining gully filled with flood water.

At another location same day, a building wall collapsed at Udoka Housing Estate in Awka, a couple in the house was rescued by sympathetic neighbors who heeded to their cries for help. Also at Ngozika Estate in the same city, a bungalow was submerged.

Some residents has expressed fear with the increasing flood incidence pointing out that a lot of lives and properties worth millions of naira have been lost to the ugly situation.

On the arrival of the Naija24Info team to the Sunday scene of incidence, there were not just only the awful roars coming from the strange flood but a loud cry from a bus belonging to the Eastern Mass Transport Company which was fully loaded with passengers travelling from Nnewi to Awka. It took the intervention of some volunteers who swam through the flood and rescued the passengers.

Speaking to Naija24Info, the passengers very terrified and trembling expressed total dissatisfaction with the current situation unfolding around the state pointing out that their lives were endangered but miraculously saved.
Narrating the ordeal, a passenger Mr Nweze Chukwunonso, a final year student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka told our agency that their bus was trapped in the flood for over one hour and all efforts to get external aids were to no avail. He said the flood continued to pull the bus towards the canal and narrated how one of the passengers jumped through the window into a truck passing by pointing out that no one knows his whereabout at the moment. Mr Chukwunonso pleaded with the government to make concerted effort in arresting the situation.

"the fact that I am alive now is by grace of God, I beg the government to come to our rescue because this flood is a danger to the lives of the people of the state"

Crying profusely, Miss Victoria who is also a student of Nnamdi Azikiwe University told our source the she was having psychological trauma results from the incidence, she revealed her mother called her to return home so in obedience to her mother, she left school only to be caught up in such a devastating situation that almost took their lives. She pleaded with the government to save the lives of the citizens of the state pointing out that it could be anybody next time, if the situation is not controlled.

Some of the passengers also lamented that they contacted the Red Cross society but none of the rescue teams showed up.

Similarly, one of the rescue volunteers who identified himself as Mr Sunday Okon said similar incident had occurred previously within the same spot which led to loss of human lives and properties. Mr Okon lamented that a motorcyclist was also carried away few minutes before this interaction.

"I don't know whether he was an Okada man or just a private bike owner but the man who had been waiting with us jumped on his bike and drove into the flood, when the it pushed him down, we told him to leave his bike and save his life but he continued to drag his bike until the flood carried but of them"

He called on the government to create a "water way" so that the flood can have a way other than the road.

However, speaking with the former president of Nigeria Society of Engineers and a renowned civil engineering consultant, Engr (Sir) Cyril Anetoh blamed the situation on the increase in development in the area. He pointed out that the recent migration of Southerners from the northern parts of the country had caused increased human activities thereby affecting environmental and climatic conditions; he further said the government had earlier warned about possible flood actions in some parts of the country, admonishing the citizens to be ready for more similar situations in order not to be met unprepared. He lamented he equally met the situation but had to run back for alternative route into the city. He also noted there were reports from various other locations including the Awka - Onitsha old road at which various properties were damages including human lives.

He called on the citizens to desist from using the drainage channels as refuse dump and frowned at the activities of some contractors who design roads without suitable drainage system. He further said the better way the government can tackle the ugly situation is by engaging professionals and doing proper channelization of the flood within the state.

"the best way of solving this problem is by going back and looking at the source of the flood and expanding the existing drainage systems, then proper channelization of the water into an existing earth instead of bringing them to a non-existing stream ".

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