Flooding destroyed goods and property estimated to be worth millions of naira at the Afia Ekwe Building Materials Market, Ogidi/Ogbunike, in the Idemili North/Oyi Local Government Area of Anambra State.
Our correspondent who visited the market on Friday gathered that the flood caused by persistent rainfall also submerged large sections of the market, and traders’ goods were seen floating as some traders battled to salvage the remains of their items.
Some of the traders who spoke to our correspondent in separate interviews said the market overflowed on Thursday midnight due to the downpour, lamenting that the destruction was devastating.
The market chairman, Adinnu Onyechi, said that flooding is an annual occurrence and a natural disaster, even as he decried the magnitude of the damage done to the goods by the flood this time around.
He said, “We experience the flood every year, and the last time we witnessed its devastating effect was in 2019, before this very one that happened on the night of Thursday. When we came this morning (Friday), we could not believe our eyes. The destruction of goods was so devastating.
“The cause of this is that the drainage system that passes through the market is so narrow that it could not contain the flood volume from Ogidi and Ogbunike communities. We don’t have a huge sum of money for expanding the drainage system.
“We appeal to the state government to come to our rescue. Goods destroyed by the flood worth billions of naira. The victims are crying and pleading for assistance from government.”
Also lamenting the destruction, one of the victims, Okechukwu Edwin, told our correspondent, “We came to our market this morning, being Friday, and found out that the entire Afia Ekwe Building Materials market has been submerged by a flood caused by last night’s heavy downpour.
“The flood forced out all our goods and other items at our various shops. You can see some of the traders trying to pick up some of the destroyed goods. The flood came from Ogidi and Ogbunike communities. There is a drainage system that passes through the market, and I believe the drainage system may have been blocked with wastes, which resulted in the submerging of the market by flood.
“Again the drainage system is narrow and needs to be expanded to contain the volume of flood that comes from Ogidi and Ogbunike communities. It is worrisome that leadership of this market is not interested in the welfare of the traders, but only interested in collection of money from traders.”
Also contributing, another victim, Chief Chinonso Okafor, while crying for government intervention, disclosed that it was the shop attachments built on top of the drainage system that blocked the flood from flowing through the drainage system and thereby submerging the market.
“That attachment shops were built on top of the drainage, and it blocked the gutter and resulted in the flood submerging the market whenever there is rainfall. Those places blocked should be reopened. The gutter crossed the expressway but was blocked.
“This flooding has not been happening until they blocked the drainage at the attachment line and the one at the expressway. We urge the state governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, to come to our rescue by ensuring that these blocked portions are reopened,” he added. (PUNCH).
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