Several schools, laboratories, electric poles, buildings have been destroyed in a rainstorm that ravaged Ilora, Afijio local government and Iseyin, Iseyin local government.
The rainstorm which lasted for less than an hour, caused the felling of electric poles and cables, dilapidation of markets, destruction of roofing sheets of several structures in Iseyin District Grammar School, Oyo State Cooperative College, Eleekara, among other schools in separate incidents.
Some of the areas that were gravely affected in the rainstorm are Oke-gege, Adekomi, Mafikuyomi, Oke Isanmi, Eleekara market in Afijio local government and Isalu, Barracks, Koso and Oja Agbe in Iseyin local government.
Member representing Afijio state constituency, Honourable Oyeleke Oyatokun and his Iseyin counterpart, Honourable Afeez Adeleke further highlighted the incidents at the Oyo state House of Assembly plenary on Tuesday, praying that the state government agencies and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) come to the aid of the victims.
Oyatokun especially decried that many indigenes of the affected communities had been rendered homeless while pupils of the destroyed schools could not study in unsafe buildings that had blown off roofs and cracked structures.
Furthermore, he called for the renovation of the destroyed secondary schools for pupils to be safe at their schools, and provision of relief materials to the victims for them to return to living normal lives.
As a matter of urgency, Oyatokun called on the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) to remove the cables and wires lying on the ground of the affected communities.
The House of Assembly, presided over by Speaker, Honourable Micheal Adeyemo, consequently, mandated the State Emergency Management Agency to visit the affected sites, while advocating that the state government will see to the plight of the victims of the incident.
Reacting to the incident, Principal, Iseyin District Grammar School, {IDGS}, Iseyin, Mrs Felicia Siyanbola expressed optimism about the timely intervention of government and stakeholders of the school to fix the affected structures especially the school fence, to prevent a stall in academic activities.
“We appreciate the efforts of our state government overtime in its intervention projects as well as the alumni and corporate bodies and we are calling on the stakeholders not to allow things go out of hand before assisting the school with the repair works.”
“The members of staff will have to do extra job maintaining students activities, especially their movement during school hours and we may have to engage more security hands so as to protect the properties of the school,” Siyanbola said.
On a visit to IDGS to ascertain the level of destruction, the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdul-Ganiy Adekunle Oloogunebi, who is an old student of IDGS, Iseyin, called on the State government to greatly assist in the immediate rebuilding of the classrooms and other structures affected.
“This is a natural phenomenon and we appeal to the state government to effect repair of the damaged structures so that this incident does not to hamper the smooth run of academic activities. I also call on all old students to please help rebuild the school,” the Aseyin said.
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