No fewer than 35 houses were on Thursday, destroyed by rainstorms, throwing residents of the Igbonna Community in Oyun LGA of Kwara State into anguish and tears.
The Informant247 gathered that the incident, which occurred by 6:30 pm on Thursday, saw victims counted losses after the havoc caused by the rainstorms affected the rooftops of several houses, while some houses were completely off.
Reacting to the incident, the National President of Igbonna Descendants Development Union, IDPU, Barr. A S Salami disclosed that the devastating incident had left people in the community homeless, calling on the state government to promptly come to the aid of the community in this difficult time.
He said, “The experience is worrisome. Few houses, if any, were left untouched by the storms from the heavy rain. Some houses were completely blown off while many of our people’s houses were either brought down or badly damaged.”
The IDPU President added that the incident, which was unprecedented in the history of the community, rendered the people in confusion, finding it challenging to make shelter.
“As we speak, the economic and normal lifestyle of the entire community had been grounded as the vulnerable victims of the disaster are at a loss as to what to do or where to put their heads for safety”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Head of Media and Publicity of the Kwara State Fire Service, Hassan Adekunle, while confirming the incident on Friday, disclosed that scores of residents were displaced following the ugly incident.
He said, “A heavy rainstorm in the Ogbonna community in Oyun LGA had a devastating effect on the community. 35 houses were affected.”
However, in his reaction to the incident, Oyun Transition Implementation Committee (TIC) Chairman, Mr Waheed Olaitan, who visited the incident this morning, said, “It was a very terrible disaster where about 35 houses were affected, some were completely off, some houses roofing sheet were affected, while some buildings were collapsed.”
The chairman, who confirmed that a house of the former SA to the governor, Aleniboro, was affected, while some of the chiefs’ houses were also affected by the rainstorms, appealed to the state government and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) to assist the community.