stream match

Friday 14 October 2016

Hunters, boat operators smile as residents count losses (Ogun Flood)

It was already a long, distressing queue by 7:18am.
And in the line were schoolchildren, the elderly,
parents, women and able-bodied adults, all waiting
impatiently for the arrival of the next boat to get
them out of their flooded area to the other side of
the town.
Their faces roamed from one side to the other and
one could feel their deep frustration, anxiety, anger
and lamentations, all boldly written on their faces.
Since the release of excess water from the Oyan
Dam, in Abeokuta North Local Government Area of
Ogun State, the entire Warewa area in Ifo Local
Government Area of the state had been flooded, and
moving about in canoes on a once motorable road
had become the only suitable mode of
transportation for the remaining residents whose
houses were not taken over by the flood.
To say the normal lives of these residents were
truncated by the flood would be understating the
obvious; it was more than that. Hundreds of
residents were sacked from their houses by the
flood; properties worth millions of naira were
washed away, schools overtaken by the flood were
shut down, churches were closed down, forcing
worshippers to worship at home, and business
activities were grounded to a halt, because their
premises had been taken over by flood.
But in spite of the losses suffered by these
residents, it was a season of harvest and
celebration for the hunters in the area, as the flood
enabled them to kill different kinds of wild animals
they never would have come across easily,
including gazelle (Igala in Yoruba language) and
grass cutter. It was such a huge moment for them
such that some other hunters came from
neighbouring towns to join in the hunting.
“What happened was that the water flushed the
animals out of their habitat and they just ran into
our hands, so we killed them,” one of the hunters,
Mr. Odunayo Akintunde, said.
Akintunde, who did not hide his pains over the way
people were displaced and properties worth
millions of naira destroyed, admitted that if not for
the flood, they might not have come across such
animals.
Akintunde, who is also a vigilante in the area, said,
“The last time we killed such animals was in
February, and what we did then was combined
hunting, whereby people from other areas came to
join us. They are not the kind of animals anyone
could come across just by the roadside. You need
to enter the forest and hunt for them, so when they
come to you almost on a platter of gold, you know
what it means.
“And we didn’t sell the animals; we, I mean
everybody around, ate from the meat. There were
many people around who witnessed it, because we
killed the animals during the daytime, and they
were very big. So, we all ate together. And it was
another opportunity for the residents to see such
animals because some people thought we killed
goats, not knowing they were gazelles. You know
the two animals look very much alike.”
Knowing full well that some of these animals had
been displaced by the water, the hunters also
deployed their specially-trained dogs in the water
to chase the animals out of their habitat.
He continued, “It worked, because we killed more
animals when we did that. What we did, like we
used to do, was to hang something on the neck of
the dogs, which would force the animals out. And
to prevent killing the dogs by mistake, what we
hang on their neck makes some noise, and with
that we would be able to distinguish the animals
from the dogs.
“The dogs can climb the hills and go after these
animals, so they were very helpful as well.”
The event had come and gone, but another hunter,
who gave his name simply as Dare Oni, would not
forget how easy it was for him to kill some of the
animals he had always hoped to subdue someday.
He said, “We used to have some difficulties in
killing some of those animals but the flood made it
easier. The flood penetrated where they lived and
so they came out themselves and they couldn’t run
because of the volume of the water, so killing them
was easy. We killed two gazelles and one grass
cutter on Monday and if you’ve eaten grass cutter
before, you would know how sweet it is.
“The same thing happened in 2010 when water was
released from the dam. We killed a number of
animals too. But this time around, we killed five
gazelles and one antelope, and that is huge
because they are wild animals.
Some residents who spoke to Saturday PUNCH
attested to the fact that in spite of the pain the
flood subjected them to, being able to see such
wild animals and tasting their meat was a good
relief.
For Shola Aina, he said he thought the hunters only
killed a goat, only to be told that the animal he was
looking at was a gazelle and not a goat. “And I
didn’t know that grass cutters could be that
delicious. It is about the sweetest meat I have
eaten.”
Hunters and canoe operators alike
It is almost customary for some people to make
gains while some others grief from losses during
such disasters.
And while, with relative ease, the hunters would
recall with glee how they were able to kill such
wild animals, canoe operators who had been
ferrying people across the flooded road also made
huge gains. It was more so profitable as boarding a
canoe was the only way to get out of the
neighbourhood when the flooding started.
When our correspondent visited the community, the
road that leads to Banku, Arigbede and Mokore
communities that used to be very motorable, looked
like a newly inaugurated beach, to the extent that
the water got to the window level of some houses,
having successfully displaced the occupants and
wreaked their properties.
On both ends of the ‘river’, which had become
smelly, there were queues and it wasn’t a time to
trade banters, as people had become deeply
frustrated by the situation. They didn’t forget to
blame the government for their predicament, saying
if they had been forewarned, they would have
relocated.
Vehicle owners had to abandon their vehicles
somewhere and enter the canoe, while some
residents had moved away from the area. From one
end of the ‘river’ to another, it costs N150 and
sometimes N100. It was so booming that some
people had to go and bring canoes from other
places to ferry people and make some money.
They were never used to transportation by canoe,
and so entering the canoe, some rickety, was
dramatic.

Most of the canoes carried five passengers per trip,
which amounted to at least N500 per trip. One of
the operators said when the flood started, he made
up to 25 trips, making N12,500, and even when the
water had subsided, he still made about 12 trips.
According to the residents, it was a dreadful
experience they would not forget in a hurry, and
even though it was not the first time the area would
be flooded due to the release of water from the
dam, this year’s episode did not do less damage
than those of previous years, especially those of
2007 and 2010.
As the days passed and the volume of the water
subsided, those who could not afford the N100 fare,
entered the water, including women, who had to
roll up their trousers or skirts almost to a lewd level
so the clothes would not be drenched.
The frustrations were expected and they poured in,
from home owners, tenants to business owners, in
their numbers when Saturday PUNCH spoke to
some of them.
One of the home owners displaced by the flood and
constrained to live with a friend, together with her
two children, recalled how the flood started, saying
she was away when she learnt of the flood. She
explained that if the residents had been forewarned,
they would not have suffered losses the way they
did.
“If we had known that this place would be like this
when we bought the land, we would have looked
for somewhere else, because we experienced the
same thing in 2007, 2010 and 2011. And it is not
easy to abandon a house we laboured to build to
be tenants elsewhere.
“Some of our gadgets and personal belongings had
been damaged by the flood. What do we do?”
Also of particular interest was that of a man in a
white shirt and black suit, who was drenched by
the water when their canoe failed to move in the
middle of the water.
While he wriggled his way through the water to the
river bank, his shoes and pair of trousers had been
soaked to knee level. His frustration was
understandable, but his reasons stunned everyone
present, all of whom initially appeared uninterested
in his story.
While insisting that he would not pay the N100 fare,
and even demanded an apology from the operator,
he said, “What sort of nonsense is this? I have an
appointment with a client in Ikeja now, is this how
I will go; soaked? Why didn’t you tell us your
canoe was bad?”
While threatening to slap the boat operator if he
argued further, he explained that the canoe got
hooked due to an obstruction and would not move
unless they all alighted, thus they had to enter the
water and find their way through to the bank of the
‘river.
“That boat almost capsized. What is the meaning of
all these? And the water is even smelling,” he
lamented.
…as businesses, schools shut down
The frustration from the flooding at Warewa in the
past few days has known no bounds, as the water
overtook several business premises, forced schools
to close down and religious houses to remain
closed.
A church in the area, Christian Liberation Centre,
was seen flooded when our correspondent visited,
forcing the members to either converge in an
alternative location for their services or suspend
their services.
And in a private crèche close to the flooded road,
the teacher in charge, identified simply as Felicia,
said the flood had affected their activities because
of the drop in attendance.
She said some of their pupils live in the flooded
area and had to board canoe, while some parents
disallowed their children from going to school.
She said, “Our main school is around the flooded
area. Our teachers and the pupils had to board
canoe to and fro because some of them live in that
area. We recorded low attendance, because some
parents asked their children to stay back until the
place is dry.
“Last week, one of the canoes capsized, making the
some pupils of another school on board to fall
inside the water and even drink part of the dirty
water. It’s so sad but thank God there was no
casualty. It would have been a different story if we
were closer to the exam period; you can imagine
what would have happened to the pupils. The few
days may not alter our calendar but no doubt we
have lost some days.”
The situation is barely different at the Warewa
Community Primary School, where only few pupils
were seen in the premises. One of the teachers told
our correspondent that they had recorded poor
attendance since the flooding started, mainly
because some of their pupils live around the
flooded area, thus, they could not make it to
school.
“That is what we are faced with. Some of our pupils
have been absent, understandably because of the
flood,” the teacher added.
The wind of lamentation did not spare business
owners on that road and its environs, as they also
had to close their shops to avoid being swept away
by the water. Some of the shops include a foodstuff
shop, a carpentry shop and cement shop.
A carpenter, known as Seedof, whose shop was
completely flooded, told Saturday PUNCH on the
telephone that he had incurred huge losses due to
the flood.
Even though he sounded unhappy on the phone, he
said there was nothing he could do than to vacate
and make use of a make-shift shop somewhere
else.
He said, “I have not been able to open my shop for
the past three weeks, because of the flood. I would
have made some money if I were to be in my shop
but I couldn’t open because of the flood. So, I had
to move some of my equipment to a temporary
location until the time the water would dry up. And
after such, when the water dries up, there are
always repairs to do. So, it has been a big loss.”
The water may have subsided, but the losses
incurred by the residents and business owners,
coupled with the discomfort suffered by churches
and schools may not abate quickly. Yet, hunters
embraced the opportunity to kill wild animals they
may not have come across ordinarily, while boat
operators recorded huge gains from the tragedies.
Responding to the flooding created by the release
of water from the dam, the Managing Director,
Ogun/Osun River Basin Development Authority, Mr.
Akintunde Soyemi, told The PUNCH that the
flooding was mainly because the owners of the
affected houses built them below the level of the
road. “Anywhere below such level will always be
submerged,” he added.
Meanwhile respite may be on the way of the
dwellers as he has promised that the residents
would see an improvement in the days ahead.
The state government had said it warned the
residents of the affected areas of the likely incident
but that they disregarded the warning.
The state Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Bolaji
Oyeleye therefore urged the residents of such
flood-prone areas to vacate such premises to avoid
loss of lives and properties.
He added that the state government would work
with other relevant agencies and the Federal
Government to provide succour to affected
communities.

No comments:

Post a Comment