Ilorin flood claims student’s life, Gov Abdulrazaq commiserates with family

Wednesday evening downpour in the Ilorin metropolis has reportedly claimed life of a lady, Adeyemi Lateefah

Lateefah, a student of the Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin was reportedly going to the Maraba motor park, few meters from her Mubo residence when she slipped into the flooded drainage.

It was gathered that the Wednesday downpour caused instant flooding of the area owing to what residents called the poor construction of the Asa drainage.

Speaking during an on-the-spot assessment of the Asa river channelization project at Mubo community of Ilorin on Thursday, Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, commiserated with the family of the deceased, assuring them that a search team had been despatched to look for her remains and that the administration would ensure that proper steps are taken to ward off such incident in the future.

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The governor has also called on the Federal Government to order contractors handling the channelisation of the Asa River in the state back to the site, saying the drainage was poorly done and is too narrow to prevent flooding in the areas and loss of human lives and properties.

AbdulRazaq said he had written to the Federal Government about the threats the poor job poses to the people of the state, especially residents of Ilorin, the state capital.

“This (channelisation) was long awarded. They didn’t execute it properly. We have written them a letter that they should come and finish it. What they did is too narrow”, he said.

AbdulRazaq said that he had directed the Kwara State Ministries of Works and Transport and Environment and Forestry to immediately drain the flooded area, including a megachurch where dozens of people were trapped following the downpour.

He also reiterated the government’s appeal for people in flood-prone areas to evacuate such vicinities following national forecasts about heavy flooding across the country, including Kwara State.

The Governor’s appeal came on the heel of a statewide sensitisation by the administration on the need for people to leave the flashpoint already identified by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry.

Apart from the various sensitisation campaign that began with a news briefing in August, officials from the ministry and the Government House have since Monday kickstarted a new sensitisation tour of various areas of the state where flooding is expected.