OREADL OF IBADAN FLOOD VICTIMS 2011

Oyo State government and other agencies rally round to ameliorate the plight of victims of Ibadan’s worst flood in recent times
In a manner reminiscent of Ogunpa flood of August 1980, residents of Ibadan and its environs on Friday, August 26, witnessed floods of unimaginable proportion. The flood disasters led to the death of more than 100 people while 1,500 others were rendered homeless and property worth billions of Naira destroyed. The flood was as a result of torrential rainfall that lasted several hours.

The downpour affected virtually every area of Ibadan, but communities in Oluyole, Iddo, Akinyele, Lagelu, Ibadan South-West, Egbeda, North-West, and North-East local government areas were worse off. In Agbowo, University of Ibadan area of the town, no fewer than 15 people, mostly children, lost their lives to the downpour. Ile Eja and Carpenter area of Agbowo, were gory sights. It was tale of sorrow and tears as corpses of children and grown up victims of the flood were floating in the flood.

In Oluyole Estate, behind Vine Hospital, a man who was trying to escape through the ceilling when his house was flooded, got stuck and eventually died. Isaac Adedeji, one of the residents of the area whose house was also affected by the flood, stated that the area had not witnessed flooding in the past 12 years since the river around the area was dredged. He laid the blame for the flooding at the doorsteps of residents whom he said were fond of dumping refuse indiscriminately.
Some of the affected residents, expressed shock, as they said they had never witnessed such flood tide in over three decades that they had been living in the area. They blamed the situation on the overflow of Eleiyele dam, and lack of good drainage system. But  Dupe Abimbola, who works at Eleiyele Water Works, said the flooding was not caused by the flushing of the dam. “This problem is not directly an Eleiyele problem. Eleiyele dam works automatically, once there is pressure built up on the dam, it has  automatic valves that will open up and release water into Odo Ona. It is a very simple things” he said and blamed the problem on the inability of the relevant government agencies to channel Odo Ona water to accommodate large volume of water as was done with Ogunpa. He appealed to the government to do something urgently to channel the water in order to avoid similar occurrence.
 Onafujabi Babatunde, most supreme evangelist,  Celestial Church of Christ, CCC, Irapada Parish, which  was also affected by the flood  appealed to  the government of Oyo State to rise to the occasion by constructing a real bridge at the Orogun junction, instead of the box culvert thatwas earlier  constructed but could not stem the flood. As a result of the flood, several communities were cut off from the rest of people in Ibadan town.
One such place is Ajibode community,  which is situated behind the University of Ibadan. The community  was completely cut off from the town as the river in the community overflooded its bank, shutting people at home, while many residents, who were already outside before the rain commenced, could not return home. Even the new bridge, allegedly being constructed for the community by the UI authorities,  was totally submerged by water.
 Oba Samuel Odulana Odugade I, the Olu Ibadan,  has commiserated with residents of Ibadan over the flood .The monarch, who expressed sadness over the loss of lives and property caused by the massive flood, urged them to bear  their losses with fortitude. But  the traditional ruler called on the Oyo State governor to render material and financial assistance to the victims of the flood, to alleviate their suffering. He also appealed to the state government to intensify efforts to clear the drainages in the city. Following the disaster, Ajimobi cut short his trip to the Holy Pilgrimage and immediately procured the services of an helicopter for the rescue of citizens and distribution of relief materials to all victims.
The government also enlisted the support of the Army, specificially the  GOC, 2nd Mechanised Division, for the provision of bailey bridges over the two rivers whose bridges were swept off at Apete and Olomi areas.
The governor, also ordered the setting up of two camps at the Apete and Odo Ona areas of the state capital for displaced persons. As a follow-up, blankets, mattresses, drugs and food were procured and distributed to the victims and some residents of the areas. The state government also contacted all relevant state and federal agencies involved in rescue exercises, such as the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, and the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, whose officials were deployed by the state government-procured helicopter, to the affected areas, so as to feel the pulse of the victims, as well as ascertain the level of destruction occasioned by the flood.
Jumoke Akinjide, minister of state for Federal Capital Territory, FCT,  also commiserated with victims of the flood. Akinjide, who is an indigene of Ibadan,  expressed condolences to   Ajimobi and the people of Oyo State, particularly the families and friends of the  victims of the unfortunate flood disaster.
Muhammad Sani-Sidi, director-general, National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, who immediately directed special Search and Rescue officers to intervene in addressing the problems of the victims, cut short his trip to Jeddah on lesser Hajj and visited Ibadan to commiserate with victims of the floods.
Iyiola Akande, south-west zonal director, NEMA, told Newswatch that it is the responsibility of the agency to respond to disaster immediately it occurs because some staff were trained to handle such problems. He said that NEMA in conjunction with Red Cross and other agencies moved to rescue those that were trapped in the flood on the day the incident occurred. He stated that some relief materials like rice, mattresses, roofing sheets and detergents were distributed to victims. Akande promised that the organisation would also recommend to the government the next action to take on the matter. “These items that were donated to the victims ran into millions and we are recommending to government to offer more assistance,” he said.  
Some of the inmates of the Port Harcourt prisons involved in the August 7, 2011 jailbreak are still at large
Security operatives in Rivers State have stepped up manhunt for the five inmates of Port Harcourt Prisons who escaped during the jailbreak that took place on Sunday, August 7. Seven inmates actually escaped, but two were swiftly re-arrested. Twenty-three others who were part of the escape bid were also apprehended.  
Three of the escapees were suspected criminals awaiting trial, while the other two inmates were already convicted prisoners. Attius Otta, public relations officer, PRO, of the prisons in the state, gave the names of the two re-arrested inmates as Anthony Akanimo and Egbe Gbon.  While Akanimo is awaiting trial over his alleged involvement in kidnapping, Gbon is a kidnap convict who is serving a twenty-year jail term.
Ben Ugwuegbulam, police public relations officer, PPRO, of the Rivers State Command, said on getting the information, the police mobilised promptly to the scene, and this led to the re-arrests. He explained that the police have intensified their patrol of the area, while the entire escape saga was being investigated.
That the fleeing prison inmates used rustic iron bed as improvised ladder to scale the more than 25 feet high prison walls, and limped unto the outside world. As they touched ground, they found escape route through the nearby Bundu and Abuja water fronts. It was gathered that the swift intervention of the police prevented what would have turned out to be a major revolt at the prison.
But Jerome Ogundano, controller of prisons in the state, claimed that what happened was not a jailbreak. According to him, it was just an escape bid by those inmates.  He explained that a jailbreak is a riotous situation leading to escape of prisoners. “But here, the prisoners walked away under normal circumstances,”  he said. He promised that the security agencies were working together to re-arrest the remaining three fleeing prisoners.  Ogundano explained that security agencies, including the police, the air force and navy have been put on red alert following the incident.
Chibuike Amaechi, Rivers State governor, has urged residents and visitors to Port Harcourt not to panic, over the jailbreak as the situation has been brought under control. 

 
The governor noted that although security and the management of prisons were under the exclusive jurisdiction of the federal government, his administration would meet with the police and prison authorities to look at what happened and how they could help to forestall a recurrence. “Security agents have further assured me that there is no cause for alarm as they are on top of it and have commenced a manhunt for the handful of inmates that got away,” he said.
But the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, called for investigation of the ugly incident. “Driven by our concern for the sanity and health of the society, we in the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Rivers State chapter, call for  a thorough investigation of the incident.”

 The statement signed by Jerry Needam, publicity secretary of the party, recalled that in 2005, there was also a major jailbreak in the Port Harcourt Prisons, which led to   the escape of many hardened criminals and enemies of progress into the civilised world. “The effect of that jail break was the untold havoc which the criminals and their gangs unleashed on the state and residents of Port Harcourt. We, therefore, urge the authorities in the state to ensure proper investigations into the menacing occurrence by constituting a judicial panel to examine its immediate and remote causes.”

Charles Jaja, a human rights activist in Port Harcourt, attributed the jailbreak to unnecessary delay of cases by the Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, in the state and blamed this on the fact that the prisons has no psychologists to talk and appeal to the conscience of the inmates and assure them that they are still part of the larger society.