By Our Correspondent
Residents of Wire and Cable/Ita Faaji/Oganla/Agbofieti as well as Tioya on Amuloko road in Ido and Ona-Ara local government areas of Oyo State were in tears following a heavy downpour that wrecked havoc in the communities.
The rain washed away valuables and roads linking various communities in the two council areas
The rain, which was supposed to be a blessing to many residents due to the heat waves that have witnessed in the past few months, turned to sorry as many of them were counting their lost.
It was gathered that motorists were stranded as they could not find their ways to their respective homes, following the heavy rainfall, which started at about 5:30pm on Friday till around 11:30pm and continued on Saturday evening till midnight.
In Ido local government, it was observed that many of them were lamenting as they were passing through the road from Oganla up to the All Saints College end of the road.
It was further discovered that some of them found it difficult to navigate their way through the slippery road, worsened by deep gullies formed by the torrential rainfall. Many abandoned their vehicles as they could not find their ways through the water running through the rough, gully-like surface of the road.
One of the affected residents, Olarenwaju Ajibola, said he spent more than two hours driving on the bad road from Gbekuba area through Agbofieti before he could get to his house at Ita Faaji, a trip which he said normally takes him about ten minutes.
"Where can we go from here? Many of us are landlords in this community. Can we remove our houses and relocate to another area? This is impossible. Even how many of us can afford to live in better environments?
"This is a very big community housing several thousands of people. We can only appeal to the state government and other authorities concerned not to abandon us in this area.
"This is the first rain of the year; the road is already going through a bad shape. We are already witnessing pains and agonies, going out and returning to our various homes in tears.
"This has been our fate over the years. But we thought the present administration in the state has come to our aids when they filled the road with trucks of sand, late last year. Somebody should please do something," he begged.
In Ona-Ara local government, the alternative route created to ease the re-construction of Tioya bridge on Amuloko area was washed off by the rain.
It would be recalled that the alternative road was created by the state government when the bridge was demolished for reconstruction.
“Many residents and visitors are stranded as we speak. Nobody knows the next line of action. It is so sad that this bridge caved in just first rain after it was constructed. I recall that we complained to the government last year that this project was not properly handled. We were accused of being used. This is the only road that links the local government headquarters in Akanran." One of the residents, Sodiq Abdulfatai lamented.
He, therefore, appealed to the governor of the state, Seyi Makinde, to urgently look at their plight and find lasting solution before it gets out of hands.
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