- Safiu Kehinde
The Lagos state government has charged residents living in some parts of Lekki, Ikorodu, Ajegunle, and other coastal areas of the state to evacuate as it warned of more flood on account of the persistent rainfall.
Tokunbo Wahab, the state’s Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, gave the charge while speaking on Channels Televsion’s Politics Today Programme on Tuesday.
The Commissioner urged the residents of the affected lowland areas to move to the highlands to avoid being victims of the flood.
“Those around the Ajilete axis of Lagos, that’s Ajegunle, they have to move. Those around the coastline of Ikorodu; Majidu, have to move. Some areas around the Lekki corridor, too, not all,
“For those who stay in the lowland of Lagos, they have to move to the upland pending when the rain recedes,” he said.
Wahab listed safe areas of the state which according to him include Epe, Ikeja, and Mushin.
“Epe had always been safe, Mushin will be safe, Ikeja will be safe,” the commissioner stated, while warning residents of Isheri in the OPIC area of the state to also be on alert.
Wahab however attributed the situation in Lagos to its nature as a coastal city which exposed it to the vagaries of climate change.
“We won’t tell Lagosians lies. Lagos will be exposed to the vagaries of climate change, and that means Lagos will have flash flooding, but as a state, we have to provide resilient infrastructure, and we have to tell our people to be responsible.
“If nature takes its course, what we can do is to mitigate its impact,” the commissioner stated.