Oyan Dam: Communities in Ogun are terrified of new flooding
The Ogun-Oshun River Basin Authority released water from the Oyan River Dam on Monday, scaring the residents of Isheri, Arepo, Lafenwa, Warewa, and other nearby communities along the Lagos-Ibadan Motorway in Ogun State and sending them into a state of fear.
On Saturday, locals began to notice a steady rise in the Ogun River's current.
In the meantime, the water has overflowed and is now a few meters from the riverbank.
The neighbourhoods surrounding the Long Bridge had flooded, as our correspondent who saw this on Tuesday also discovered.
Fearing that their towns will see yet another wave of flooding, a few locals voiced their fears.
Muftau Alabi, an Isheri North GRA resident, reported that water was starting to enter several of their streets.
"We woke up on Sunday and saw our street gradually flooding," the man stated. Even though everyone is scared right now, we are managing the situation. It is no longer possible for those who live close to the water's entry point to drive onto their properties. We're hoping that the catastrophe we saw last year won't happen again.
Our correspondent noticed that there was flooding over the entire industrial avenue, which is home to businesses including Hogan Technologies and Mikano.
Some residents have been thinking about moving out of the region, according to Kunle Adejobi, another resident.
It is regrettable that we are once more dealing with the flood issue. Individuals are already thinking of leaving the area to avoid being caught up in the usual flood crisis. I am still observing if it won’t get beyond this level before I consider a temporary relocation.
Abayomi Akinde, the chairman of Riverview Estate, stated that while the flood was still not dangerous in most of the residential areas, he was hopeful that it would soon go.
Akinde also revealed that the dam is releasing more water than usual, which is causing a flood.
"There is a small flood and water is slowly entering," he stated. "At this time, we are not sounding the alarm because it is not yet threatening in size." All we can hope for is that it will go away. Though the water is rising, some residents of the North GRA are still able to access their homes, albeit not with their automobiles these days. Nevertheless, things are not too bad right now.
"The dam is solely to blame for this. They are now leaking water at a rate of 12%. I've always maintained that 10% of the water released will be noticeable to humans. There will be water all around you. Tell them to shut down their dam to 5% and observe what transpires over the course of the next three to four days, even though they insist it is not their dam. There will be no more water.
Just over a year ago, a flood surge caused by the Oyan River Dam's excess water release forced several locals, shopkeepers and other businesses on the Lagos-Ibadan Motorway to relocate.
After visiting the flooded neighbourhood, the state governor, Dapo Abiodun, stated that his administration was collaborating with the federal government to handle the situation as an emergency.
Speaking to the inhabitants of Riverview Estate, Abiodun announced that he had asked for an estate area assessment in order to pinpoint areas of concern that need urgent attention.
Additionally, he gave the populace the assurance that an elevated road with proper drainage will be built as part of the intervention to lessen their suffering.
Lekan Adeniran, the governor's chief press secretary, did not pick up calls on Tuesday when they reached him. As of the time this report was filed, he had not replied to a text message. Upon being notified, the Environment Commissioner, Ola Oresanya, said the dam was deliberately opened to prevent recurrence of the flood crisis in Borno State, adding that the state government had earlier in the year dredged some tributaries currently being opened up to mitigate the effect of flooding in the communities.
"We predicted earlier in the year that October would see a rainfall pattern of about 200 millimetres," he stated. As the Ogun River is a tributary of the River Niger, spills from the latter river into the former eventually reach the Oyan Dam, which is designed to hold onto water for irrigation and the production of electricity. You are not able to lock the dam at this time. We don't want a repeat of the Borno State tragedy, so you must open the dam to prevent it from breaking. Therefore, a spill is required during this time, and the volume that must be spilt is roughly 15 million cubic meters each day as opposed to the one to two million per day spilled in the earlier part of the year.
Thus, in the early months of this year, we dredged one of the main tributaries of the Ogun River and opened up its tributaries. And by now, most of the towns would have been inundated due to the dam's degree of spill, but since we have followed the right procedures, the water is not reaching the homes. It enters those tributaries that we previously revealed. The state government has done what it was meant to do, so even though you can see water all around you, it won't come to you and you won't need to relocate," he continued.
