Flooding: FCTA declares Abuja estate disaster zone

Akinwande Soji-Ojo

Barely a week after flood submerged over 116 houses and killed two people at Trademore Estate in Lugbe area of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has declared the area a disaster zone that needs immediate action to prevent further loss of lives and property.

The Permanent Secretary, FCTA, Olusade Adesola, who disclosed this on Tuesday, said the agency would come up with a programme to relocate people from the area in order to avert further casualties.

Adesola, who led senior FCTA officials and heads of security and paramilitary agencies on an assessment tour of the affected area, said the flooding incident at Trademore Estate was among the issues reviewed at the FCT Monthly Security Committee meeting.

He said they were amazed that two days after the flooding, people have returned to some of the properties, adding that the committee is putting efforts in place to prevent further casualties and damage to properties.

He, however, added that the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) Executive Secretary, who chairs the Task Force on Flood Mitigation in FCT, the Commissioner of Police and other officials of the FCTA, particularly FEMA, Development Control, and AEPB are now ready evolve solutions that would immediately address flooding in Abuja metropolis.

“We were quite amazed at the level of flooding that occurred in Trademore Estate. More particular is the risk that people took – to build in such a low-level plain. While on the road, we saw that even the roof of the houses was below the road level, which makes them vulnerable to flooding.

“The task force will immediately swing to action to make recommendations on urgent issues or attention that must be given to the area. As we cannot fold our hands and allow the destruction to continue. We were amazed that only two days after the flood, people returned to some of the properties.

“So, in a couple of days, we will be taking appropriate action. Having seen the extent of the flooding, we hereby declare the Trademore Estate area a disaster zone that needs immediate action to remedy further damages and loss of lives and properties.

“So, we will look at a programme of evacuating people from those areas, to ensure that we prevent the loss of lives and property. For the rest of the year, rain predictions show that there might still be more heavy rains, which means that there could be damages and casualties. And the FCTA will do everything possible within its power to ensure that we mitigate such occurrence,” he added.