Solomon Odeniyi captures the plights of some residents in Luge area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, who lost property to flooding

The tears that greeted the ruins of property of affected residents at Trademore Estate in Luge area of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, captured the impact of Sunday flooding in the area.

The flood destroyed houses, overwhelmed buildings and killed some, thereby leaving families in mourning. Some are still missing and their relatives searching for them. Although some were able to save their belongings and had started cleaning up their buildings to move in, others have been rendered homeless after losing all they laboured for.

The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency on Monday said 166 houses were affected and 26 vehicles swept away by the flood.

Although the agency put the number of casualties at four, some residents said the death toll could be more as the whereabouts of some people in the area were unknown. The flood swept away and submerged everything in its wake.

Three areas namely Imo, ABC Ojiakor and Trademore square streets were the most hit by the devastating flood. Also, the police station in the estate was not spared.

When our correspondent visited the area on Tuesday, some documents soaked by the flood were seen spread on the fence. Standing fans and mattresses among others were also seen outside. A policeman who spoke on condition of anonymity said the flood damaged many things in the station.

The cop said statements and some case files were soaked by the flood. He said, “The flood was much here. We lost many things. We were able to save some statements, files and other things. Nothing has happened to them. They are only wet.”

Asked if those in the cell were trapped in the flood, the policeman said, “There was no one in the cell when the incident happened.”

A resident, Mr Opedu Charles and his family were sacked from their house by the flood. Charles said that he was squatting with an elder in his church who offered them a room in his apartment. Unlike some others, he couldn’t immediately return home with his family. Despite this, he said he was thankful that he didn’t lose any of his family, especially his wife who he said couldn’t climb to the ceiling where he and his children hid.

He stated, “On Sunday, we discovered that the rain was falling at about 8.30pm. We observed the flooding then and 15 minutes later, it became serious. The next thing we saw was that the compound was flooded and the force broke the closed door and the water entered the house. It was as if it was on a vengeful mission. The water level reached my chest. I was in the house with my wife and two sons. We helped our last child to climb the ceiling. I tried helping my wife but she couldn’t climb. At this point, everything in the house was floating.

“I was able to help her climb the deep freezer and she was there for about one hour and 30 minutes. She was praying and I recall she said God promised her that the water of life wouldn’t drown her. The water receded later. The flood came with mud and dirt. It was after that we heard a large sound of our fence collapsing. An elder in my church offered us a room in his apartment and that is where we are currently sleeping. The shirt I put on belongs to him. Despite all that happened, my happiness is that there was no loss of life. This incident claimed lives. I am pleading with the authorities and the developer to come to our help to assist us to cope with this monumental loss. These are the things we have gathered over years. Documents, cars and property destroyed. While others can still manage to clean the compound and continue living there, mine has been completely damaged. There’s nothing I can do to relocate to another place. We are standing now by the grace of God.”

Another victim who gave her name only as Mrs Uche said the flood caught them unawares. She said she and her family just moved into the area three months ago. Uche added that the incident happened when she and her family were watching an edition of the BigBrotherNaija.

Uche stated that they were afraid and thought the end had come as there was no one to help. She said,” I am fed up with everything. The loss is too much. All our home appliances and credentials are gone. The incident happened when all of us were inside watching BigBrotherNaija. We were so engrossed with the programme that we did not know what was happening outside. Suddenly we started seeing water forcing its way through. We couldn’t stay in and we couldn’t go out. We were stuck. We left the living room and went to the kitchen and saw a pool of water. We started scooping water but we later discovered it was beyond what we could do. We cried out hoping to get help but none came. At that point, we thought we wouldn’t leave the place alive.

“My husband and I started praying to God. My husband is on crutches and started praying for God to deliver us. The water rose to window level. I can’t explain how we made it out of the house. The most painful part of it all is that we just moved in June this year. We were never told this and we did not bother to ask because we were desperately in need of accommodation. I have never experienced this before in my life. For now, we don’t have anywhere to run to, we have been cleaning up so we can move in till we will relocate.”

A resident, Uche Mark operates a livestock farm in the area. It was a double loss to him as his house and farm were destroyed by the flood. He said, “I am a livestock farmer, all my goats, rams and birds are gone. Not even one was spared. The flood submerged my ranch and poultry. My house was also affected. I am devastated. I have lost everything. For now, I don’t know what to do. I have been unable to sleep ever since the incident happened. I think of what I have lost. I took loans to establish this business and I pay back every month. Where do I start from and how do I service my loan?’’

Another resident identified only as Mr Abubakar said he had lived in the vicinity for six years and had never witnessed such a level of flooding.

He stated, ”I don’t even know the whereabouts of some persons in the area. I heard of a woman who was rescued from the flood and has been looking for her children.”

An elder in the Estate who spoke on condition of anonymity blamed the residents, developer and the FCTA for what happened. He claimed that a river was reclaimed in the area and houses built on it, adding that the FCTA shouldn’t have allowed it.

The man said, “The authorities should ask these people to pack out. There was a major river in the area and some developers built houses on it and sold it to unsuspecting people. Most of the people here are middle-class Nigerians and civil servants. They bought some of the houses on mortgage. They thought it was better than paying landlords. People live in fear whenever it rains here. The topography of Trademore Estate makes it possible to allow water to pass through and many houses are on a river. Why would they allow a developer to build in the area? And if you are giving a place like this to a developer, you don’t sleep. You must make sure the appropriate things are done. Residents of Redeemers Estate, an estate before Trademore, have been unable to do major roads. The estate behind Redeemers channelled their water there. People there have been shouting. Redeemers Estate is supposed to be a fence according to its plan. No water should pass through there. The developers were just building. The FCTA should demolish the buildings so that they won’t rent them out or sell them to unsuspecting people.”

In his contribution, the Chairman of the estate, Adewale Adenaike, told our correspondent that those who died in the flood were not residents.

He said, “Those that lost their lives are not residents of the area. One of them came to buy drugs from a pharmacy shop. He was waiting for the rain to subside before leaving and his car was later swept away by the flood. The same thing happened last year when someone came to cut his hair in the state.”

He also said the administration had promised to set up a committee to look into the incident, adding that they were awaiting a response from them.

Adenaike said, “We are waiting for the government to contact us. They promised to set up a technical committee. I also want to know when they would do the evacuation they promised. This time round there would be action. We are going to be on the case. Those cleaning up and moving in would be evacuated from there. It will definitely rain again so they can’t stay there. But we want to know where they would be taken to.’’

Incessant flooding In 2020, the FCT Emergency Management Agency, Director-General Idriss Abbas, stated that the Search and Rescue team of the agency discovered the body of one 43-year-old from Akoko-Edo, Edo State, Garba Joseph, after two days’ search from a flooded river around the estate. Many houses were also affected by the flooding.

Other areas that have experienced massive flooding in the nation’s capital in the last few years include Karu, Lokogoma, Galadimawa, Giri and Gwagwalada among others. In 2020, about five persons died, 30 feared missing and 50 houses were destroyed by flooding in Gwagwalada and Giri. Also, in 2019, a top civil servant was swept away by flood and died in the Galadimawa area.

We warned them of flooding, says emergency agency Speaking with our correspondent, Abbas said residents in the area and others were warned of the development but they didn’t obey the directive.

He, however, vowed that the agency would do all within its powers to ensure such an incident didn’t recur in the area and other parts of the FCT.

Abbas said, “Honestly, there are several measures we put in place before now. We have been carrying out campaigns, sensitising the people to the extent that we mounted notices at flood-prone areas and warnings not to build on the waterways. I can’t imagine why people would decide to build in those areas. Is it because there are no more lands in the FCT? People don’t take their lives seriously. On the side of the government, we will never allow such things to happen again.”

When our correspondent told him that some of the residents were returning to the flooded area, he said, “We have warned them not to go back. There are predictions of heavy rain, but we don’t know the magnitude of the water. We will continue to speak with them until they leave the area and sensitise them until the rainfall stops. We expect a more devastating flood which is the river flood. We don’t know which dimension it will take and the downpour is still being predicted. People should leave the area. They have no spare lives and shouldn’t toy with their lives.’’

He also noted that he was not aware of any mortgage on the houses, adding “If it is by bank, I doubt they would do that. They would conduct research and make sure the houses get approval. However, that would not stop the government from taking the necessary action.”

When contacted for his reaction on the matter, the FCTA Director, Development Control, Garba Kwamku, said the estate started illegally, adding that demolition was done before the intervention of the National Assembly.

He said, “That estate started illegally when the former director around 2014/ 2015 noticed it. We marked and removed 100 foundations there. The developer stopped for a while and approached the National Assembly and we were prevailed upon. Last year, when we learnt of the rainfall prediction, we invited him (developer) and told him we wouldn’t want to be ridiculed. We gave him conditions and marked some structures for demolition. He said he had approached about 21 occupants of houses built on the waterways to relocate them to Karu. He said two people agreed. While preparing to move to the site, one of the occupants went to court and got an injunction which stopped us from going ahead.”

But Adenaike said he was not aware of any injunction on the land.

He said, “I am not aware of any case in court or an injunction from our end. Also, the lawyer of the developer in the area told us he has no case stopping demolition in the area but the department of development control is saying otherwise. For us, it is not about demolition. If there is the need to demolish the entire estate to get a lasting solution, so be it. We want to know the work plan. People bought those houses from my knowledge as a civil engineer.’