THE Lagos and Ogun state governments, on Friday, warned residents living in flood-prone areas, particularly along riverbanks, to temporarily relocate or brace for potential flooding ahead of the planned release of water from the Oyan dam.
Annually, the Ogun-Oshun River Basin Development Authority, OORBDA, managers of the dam, releases excess water from the facility during the rainy season.
Every year, residents of Isheri Riverview estate and other residential surroundings in Warewa and OPIC in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area are usually sacked by flooding due to a water surge induced by the release of excess water from the dam.
To avoid a situation where residents will be caught unawares, both the Lagos and Ogun state governments have advised communities in low-lying areas to take necessary precautions, including relocating to safer ground, as the release could cause rivers to overflow, leading to severe flooding.
Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab told Punch correspondent that the Federal Government had commenced the dredging of rivers along the corridor of the dam to avoid devastating flooding incidents such as the one that occurred in Maiduguri.
“We have done the advocacy, we have told people to leave the low line areas. We are collaborating with the Ogun state government on how we can mitigate the impact of the release.
“Those staying on the low line areas have to leave, particularly those at Ajilete and other areas around Owode-Onirin because we saw what happened in Maiduguri, it will be child’s play.
“We will keep appealing to them to leave the low line areas, but if they refuse to leave, they have to bear the consequences”, Wahab said.
His Ogun State counterpart, Ola Oresanya also told Punch that the dam was planning to increase the volume of water from over one million gallons to create more space in the reservoir.
However, the management of OORBDA has allayed the fear of residents, assuring that the release of water from the dam will not lead to flooding incidents.
OORBDA Head of Public Relations Department, Saliu Adeniyi, in a chat with Punch ruled out the possibility of dam failure, saying the dam has been undergoing periodic maintenance.
“Definitely we will not have the Maiduguri issue happening here in Oyan dam because we have our project manager and other staff monitoring the status of the dam every day and due maintenance is being done at the dam, so such a thing will never occur here.
“If the rain increases we will also increase the volume of water being released, but it is not going to be that voluminous to create flood in downstream”, Adeniyi said.
