By Jumoke Olasukanmi
Residents of Trademore Estate, one of Abuja’s popular middle-class surburb, have lamented the heavy flood which ravaged the area as a result of the heavy downpour which began around 8am on Friday morning.
Africa Health Report learnt that several buildings including the security unit of the estate was completely submerged in the flood.
While no casualty has been recorded, a significant number of residents were displaced from their homes, with losses in properties.
Hours after the rain stopped, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) arrived at the estate with officials to assess the flood and ascertain measures that could mitigate its impact.
A resident, Toheeb Ìdòwú, told AHR that the flooding is an annual occurence.
“The rain comes like this almost every year with heavy flooding. Although we see people from government but the efforts so far, especially in the last three years, has not yielded any commendable results,” Mr Ìdòwú said.
Another resident, Mohammed Lawal, said the flood is a result of the blocking of water ways by estate developers in the area.
“I think that there are more water ways that have been blocked by these estate builders but the government is not doing anything to address this,” he said.
Leaving no less than four people dead in 2022, the Trademore estate flooding has proved deadly to residents and commuters of the area. The seasonal occurence has cost residents a fortune in property loss and apprehension whenever it rains.
In a bid to control flash flooding in the area, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) demolished 30 of the 100 building marked for removal in 2022.
It would be recalled that the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET), had in their weather forecast, predicted low to moderate rainfall that could lead to flash flooding, riverine flooding, soil erosion and strong winds in the Federal Capital and neighbouring states starting from Friday, 23rd of June.
