Bamigbola Gbolagunte, Akure
Three students of the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, were yesterday carried away by flood after a downpour that lasted for almost 10 hours.
The rain which started at 6am did not stop until 4pm. It destroyed properties worth millions of naira.
It was learnt that similar rain was experienced in the town on Sunday and Monday.
The downpour was said to have overstretched many rivers thereby causing flooding in many parts of the town and other communities that make up Akoko South West Local Government Area.
A final year student of the university, Doyin Boluwade, said to be an indigene of Ekiti State was among those carried away to an unknown destination by the heavy flood from a canal close to her residence.
According to her landlord, Elemukona Ademola, who said he narrowly escaped the incident, the flood could not be controlled as a nearby river overflowed.
Narrating his experience, Ademola said he climbed a cocoa tree when many thought he had been carried away by the flood.
The commissioner for Agriculture, Gboyega Adefarati, who paid a sympathy visit to the scene, warned against erection of building close to canals.
Adefarati equally cautioned those who in the habit of blocking line drain with refuse to desist from such act as blockage always lead to flooding.
The Alale of Akungba, Oba Sunday Adeyeye Ajimo called on the government to assist the community.
He appealed to the people to adhere strictly to town planning instruction while building houses and shops.