Lagos counted 10 dead on Monday from the rains which cascaded on the state continuously for 17 hours on Sunday. Residents, businesses, and the government all are still counting their losses, as flood water rendered thousands homeless, cars damaged, and shops and roads filled with silt, in what the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) described as the most devastating flood in the centre of excellence.
All public schools and several private ones were closed on Monday, on the orders of Governor Babatunde Fashola, to facilitate the assessment of the damage.
Agbado Oke-Odo Local Council Development Area (LCDA) Vice Chairman, Austin Arogun, confirmed to journalists that at least 10 persons drowned in a canal because they could not distinguish between the roads and the drainage channels covered by flood.
Those who drowned included a woman and her baby aged a few months.
Thousands of others were sacked from their homes by the overflow of water in Agege, Agbado, Ijaiye, Aboru, Ojota, Ketu, and Apapa.
Some are temporarily sheltered in churches and mosques.
A building on Utility Street in Ifako Ijaiye Council collapsed and buried a teenager in the rubble.
In Akera, Alagbado, a man died instantly when a fence fell on him.
The corpse of a 22-year-old boy, Muri Olanrewaju, was retrieved on Monday morning from a sewage cistern at 16, Adesokan Street, Dopemu.
Five girls, one of them a three-month-old baby, were found dead in a restaurant on Allen Avenue, Ikeja after the rain forced them to pass the night in a poorly ventilated room, where they inhaled fumes from a power generator.
Ajao Badmus, a resident of 10, Odejobi Street in Iju, said: “We did not sleep in our house yesterday (Sunday) night. The rooms were taken over by flood; we were scared because the rain did not stop until about 11 p.m.
“We had no choice than to run to our church at Cement Bus stop area, where we passed the night.”
Another resident, who gave her name as Chichi, narrated how she came back from church service at about 7 p.m. to meet her one-room apartment in Alapere, Ketu overtaken by flood.
“I don’t know where to go from here, I have lost almost everything I have. I could only retrieve the clothes I hung before I left for church. If I had known that the rain would fall the whole day, I wouldn’t have gone out.”
Kehinde Bashir, a businessman, rued stepping out of his home on Sunday.
He recounted: “I drove from my house on Jakande Estate, Isolo to Mile 12 around 3 p.m. to drop my friend and his wife who came to see me. Coming back through Ojota, I wanted to go through Oworonshoki, but just decided to pass through Ojota.
“It was one experience I regretted. I spent six hours from Ojota to Anthony and did not get home until 11:45 p.m. My friend kept calling and wondered what the problem was.
“It was like the end of the world. The flood at Ketu was scary.”
Another resident narrated: “I trekked from Cele Express to Ikotun; I wouldn’t have done that for a million Naira on a good day, but yesterday (Sunday), I had no choice.
“I had waited for over two hours for a bus, but it didn’t come. When I saw people trekking – women, men, boys and girls – I decided to join hoping I would get a bus along the way. But I ended up trekking for another two hours until I got home around 12:30 a.m. on Monday morning.”
On Monday, Channels Television did not air its Sunrise Daily News Package as its presenters could not make their way to the new office complex in Isheri Olofin along Lagos Ibadan Expressway.
Rhythm 93.7 FM, owned by Silverbird Communications in Lekki, was temporarily shut down as flood submerged vehicles, generators, and equipment.
Major markets were deserted as sheds and planks used for passage into the markets had been swept away by the flood.
Fashola inspected some areas affected by the flood on Monday and sympathised with those who lost relatives and property.
He said: “Those who are in buildings marked as structurally unstable or those who built on canals should leave the buildings immediately because we are coming to take possession, we are not going to risk human lives anymore.
“My sympathy goes to the people affected in the flood. I condole with people who lost children or property; they should know that I am with them. I will be making an appeal to (President Goodluck Jonathan) to help with funds to relocate and resettle flood victims.
“I will also write to the Federal Government on the failed portion of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. We hope the FG would respond because we have virtually lost that road and traffic will be terrible.”
As Fashola spoke, several residents also called on him to address the flood problem
One, Muyiwa Ogungbe, said: “I am around Ilasamaja now and I can see people weeping and shedding tears. Many of their properties have been damaged by the flood and many of them are saying there is no hope for them.
“People should stop saying Lagos is working. Sunday’s experience has shown to us that a lot still needs to be done. A situation where motorists were seen battling to wrench their cars from the rain water is an eyesore for this state.
“If Lagos is indeed working, I see no reason why the flood must be that much. This is the time for Fashola to start the work Lagosians really desire. Something urgent must be done to correct whatever is wrong.”
Another resident, Adebayo Bamidele, recalled how “we could not sleep throughout the night because we were scooping the water that entered into our house. As at yesterday (Sunday) evening, we had to vacate the house because every item in the house was floating.
“It was late in the night that we returned to start scooping the water and that was what we did all through the night.
“All the electronic gadgets in the house are damaged. This morning (Monday), the rain has started again and we don’t know what will still happen.
“Fashola must come to our aid here in Aboru, because our canals are blocked and even all our roads are not good. If the rain should continue like this for another seven days, what will become of us?”
Commercial hubs, including Victoria Island, Lekki, Obalende, Ikeja, Ojuelegba, Oshodi, Agege, and Alagbado were grounded.
Banks, companies, and schools sent their workers and pupils back home.
Friesland WAMPINA (formerly WAMCO) on Acme Road, Ikeja was flooded and all the workers were asked to stay at home.
NEMA Director General, Muhammad Sani-Sidi, said it was the worst flood in the state, and a special delegation from Abuja would assess the damage.