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In October, flooding originating from the Oyan dam displaced
whole communities in the Ikosi-Isheri and Agboyi-Ketu local council areas of Lagos
State and other communities in neighbouring Ogun State. Days later, the Lagos
State government relocated over 1,000 of the victims to the Resettlement Centre
and Relief Camp located in Agbowa Ikosi at the outskirts of the state.

It is over two months now; the water is gone, and normalcy is
returning to the affected communities, but the people are still waiting for
government’s promise of financial assistance. While some of them still reside
at the relief camp, others say staying put in the camp would amount to self
destruction, especially when one has a family to cater for.

ThankGod Erebi, a traditional bone setter at Kio-Kio, one of the
communities that were severely impacted by the flood, has returned to his work,
even though he still maintains his room at the relief camp where he visits
occasionally.

“There are many people in the camp who go to work and return.
Some people like us don’t go there every day. I have slept there for like six
days at different times, but my family is there. There are some people who do
not go to work. There are other people like that. I can tell you that anybody
who stays there permanently does not have anything to do; that person is not
working, and the person does not have a business that he is running, because nobody
can say that there is still water in his house,” he said.

Grappling with the
disaster

The flooding had occurred largely because of the release of
water from the Oyan dam into the Ogun River which flooded its bank, and that of
other channels. Experts say it is natural for rivers to overflow their flood
plains occasionally. In this case, the houses that were affected were built on
the flood plains.

According to Mr. Erebi, water was over one foot high in most
houses during the flood and different people employed different adaptation
techniques, while some relocated to lodge with friends and family in other
parts of the state.

“When the flood happened, some people ran away to their friends’
places. Some people lost their properties, water spoilt everything for them,
especially the people that were not around when the thing happened. Me, if I
tell that I lost my property, that will be a lie. I didn’t lose my property but
I spent money to secure them. In my house, I made something like a stage,
placed my property on top. I bought nine inches blocks, 60 of them and I bought
12 planks, N1,200. So, I was laying blocks round then, I will put the planks on
top. If the water increased I will lay another line of blocks on top to raise
my properties. That’s how I managed,” Mr. Erebi said.

When the state government opened the camp and provided buses to
move the victims there, some people did not go to the camp to register,
especially those who had left the area. Some of them are now seeking to
register but to no avail. Simon Anyadike, who lives in Kio-Kio, had just put up
his furniture shop by Ikorodu Road, when the flood came. Then he travelled with
his wife and kids after enduring the flood for a few days. By the time he
returned, the camp had closed registration and he desperately wants to register
because of the money government had promised to give to registered victims of
the flood.

“My own is that I want to register my name on that list. All of
us suffered this water together, how would they now write other people’s names
and they will not write my own. Water entered my house, and many living inside
came to stay in my shop then because the place high small. So, some people were
sleeping here. I was not doing anything here, so I travelled. The first time
TVC (television channel) people came here, I was the person they interviewed.
There was water everywhere. Please tell them, they should write my name in the
list of people that will get the compensation money,” said Mr. Anyadike who had
since returned to his business.

Problems with the camp

Mr. Erebi said though food is served three times daily and
medical care services are impressive at the camp, there are still many
challenges that the people are faced with.

“The camp; they are trying in some areas, like food,” he said.
“They serve us food morning, afternoon, and night, although me, I don’t eat it,
I buy food outside, but some other people like it. All the days that I stayed
there, one mosquito did not bite me, because they [spray] the whole place and
the surrounding is neat.

“And the medical care there is very good. But the problem there
is that if you stay there, you want to buy pure water, you cannot afford it
because you don’t have money. And the children, they put them in a school where
they are doing just revision; it’s like extra moral lessons.”

No water in camp

Sinclair Olorogun, who is a member of the committee set up by
the flood victims to represent their interest at the camp, corroborated Mr.
Erebi’s point. He resides in the camp but still attends to his business as an
electrician.

“The major problem in the camp is water. When we came, Ikosi
Ejinrin Local Council Developmental Area, were bringing bags of pure water
(sachet water) for us every day. In the morning, they will bring 50, afternoon
50, evening 50; 150 bags every day. After some time the management started
selling this pure water to us. When those people discovered they were selling
it, they stopped bringing it.

“The tap water there is not good for drinking. But people are
drinking it now. The water looks clean but if you fetch and allow it for some
time it will settle and you will see what you are drinking. I’m having fever
now, look at all the drugs they gave me at the clinic, and it’s because of lack
of potable water,” Mr. Olorogun said.

But the camp commandant, Wewe Adeboye, said it is not true that
people are leaving the camp, contrary to media reports.

“Who is saying that? They are still here. We have placed their
wards in schools. They are going to school. This is what we call emergency education.
Anytime you come to the camp you will see people. We are on the last stage now,
we have gone through preparation, mitigation, response and we are now on
recovery. What we are doing now is to help them recover to the state they were
before the flooding occurred,” he said.

Mr. Adeboye said water cannot be a problem because they pump 35
litres of water from the two boreholes in the camp to serve the 1009 flood
victims and that the water was certified drinkable by the Lagos State Water
Corporation. He said the pure water supply was stopped because the sachet
constituted environmental nuisance in the camp.

While the victims await their promised financial assistance,
which will mark the end of the camping for them and possible eviction from
their communities, to forestall future disasters, Mr. Adeboye said, “the camp
was opened by the governor and will be closed by the governor”.