As rains continue to come down in torrents this year, many families in Nigeria are in tears as flood has visited woes on them.
In Akwa Ibom State, the heavy downpour of Tuesday, October 22 triggered ferocious flood to have washed away millions Naira farmlands and swept away household properties, causing many families to shed tears.
On that day, some Nsekhe people in Ukanafun local government area wore mournful look as the flood wrecked havoc in many families forcing the victims to cry to high Heavens for assistance.
Aged Emmanson Udom whose compound sits along Abak-Ukanafun Road is an eye sore as the entire premises housing a one-storey building with detached bungalows turned to home of reptiles and amphibians.
Udom, an elder in Methodist Church Nigeria, is lonely in a makeshift building after being sent packing from the flood-ravaged compound to bemoan the fate that has befallen him in a compound he toiled and erected in the 70s.
He has, therefore, begged the State Emergency Management Agency manned by Moses Ekpo, the state deputy governor to visit the area and offer succour to the victims to alleviate their sufferings.
Udom, the nonagenarian, is not the only victim. Flood has also sacked Friday Udotong and his family.
As as the time Straightnews team visited the area on Wednesday, some affected compounds including Udotong’s were still habitats to toads and frogs while the victims relocated to squat with relations in neighbouring villages.
The flood had swept his household property and seeped into their rooms and destroyed farmlands to show as a signal that the new ‘landlord’ was in-charge while the old was away.
From Abak Local government area, flood equally agonized some residents living between PHCN and COINOIL.
The residents of Abak Housing Estate and Abak New Market adjoining Ikot Okoro Road were not spared the angst of the Tuesday’s flood.
The incident caused by downpour from 1p.m. and 3 p.m. momentarily displaced the pupils and students of Royal Kids Academy (ROKA) who fled for their lives during the school hours.
Mr Aniekan Uboketo, a trader told Diggerhead “We are doomed again because we have had several incidents this year in this flood-prone area. All our goods are gone! We were levied and the council should commence work already to remedy the the deplorable situation.”
“Properties worth millions of Naira were swept away by the flood. Businesses are shut down. Look at this printing press now- all the machines are rendered useless by flood. That petrol/gas station is completely submerged by flood. Assuming the underground tanks filled with Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) are unearthed or perhaps spilled, what would been the fate of the vicinity?” Mr. Joseph Idungafa, a resident lamented.
“The Memorabilia of my father compound in place popularly known in Abak as African Square were taken down by the flood disaster. We no longer plan or own properties anymore because when flood comes, you watch them vanish with the eyesore. What else can I say, our hard earned properties are all gone with the flood. I can even cry enough!” Edidiong Udofia regretted.
“The saddest of it all is that the paternal residence of the governor’s wife, Martha Udom is just 15 minutes stroll and the Deputy Governor, Mr Moses Ekpo a 10 minute stroll from the flood sites. This compound was a one stop-over for chickens and eggs, but the unending incidents have destroyed the business and several others in the area. We plead with the state government to come to our rescue,” Engr. O. C. Ekpo narrated.
