From Priscilla Ediare, Ado-Ekiti
For many residents of Ise-Ekiti and Orun-Ekiti in Ise-Orun Local Government Area of Ekiti State, March 31, 2022, will linger in their memories. It was the day a rainstorm ripped off the roofs of many buildings, pulled down many houses, destroyed other properties and rendered many residents homeless.
The rain, which was not the first in the communities for the year, started like a normal rain and was suddenly followed by a storm, wreaking havoc in the communities.
Some residents said they had never witnessed such an incident in their lives, others said it had occured some decades ago.
Narrating the story to Daily Sun, the victims said their families narrowly escaped death while the rainstorm lasted, thanking God that there was neither death nor any bodily injury recorded and it didn’t happen in the night.
The rain, which lasted about 30 minutes, affected scores of residential houses, including bungalows and storey buildings, schools, churches, mosques, shops, kiosks and viewing centres, among others.
Residents have been counting their losses and begging the state government, individuals and others to urgently intervene. One of the victims, Mr. Aloba Bamidele Tunbosun, whose car and viewing centre hall were completely destroyed, said: “On Thursday, March 31, I returned home around 5pm and parked my car in my compound. It was not up to five minutes after I entered my house that the rain started and destroyed the front and back wind screens of my car, a Toyota Camry saloon, and pulled down the big hall I use for viewing centre. It also destroyed the roof of my house. The rain lasted for about 30 minutes but barely five minutes into the rain, there was a heavy storm. The storm came in three stages, resulting in all this havoc you are seeing. The storm carried the whole roof of my viewing centre, placed it on my car, destroying the front and rear screens and completely pulled the walls of the viewing centre to the ground. It later lifted the roof and rafters from the top of my car and placed it on the roof of the back of my house, where I stay, also destroying the roof of the building.
“The things that were destroyed inside the viewing centre included my two plasma televisions sets measuring 55 inches each, six ceiling fans, benches, electrical fittings, DSTV decoders, burglary proofs, doors and some other things.
“Inside the viewing centre, I also had a betting section. All the materials I use in that section were destroyed, including big HP printers, two laptops, two desktops, six monitors, amplifiers and some other things. I appeal to Ekiti State government and Governor John Kayode Fayemi to, please, assist me.”
Another victim, Rev. Ayeni B.O., the vicar in charge of Emmanuel Anglican Church, Orun-Ekiti, whose church was completely destroyed, said: “The rain fell on March 31, around 4:45pm, and it was accompanied by a very heavy storm, which destroyed the entire church building by removing the roofs, destroying the rafters and roofing sheets and pulling down the walls and, as you can see, so many things in the church have been damaged, like the sound system, fans, electrical fittings, plastic chairs, doors and windows and other things.
“This is the second rain in the year and it destroyed our church. Thank God there was no casualty because, at the time the rain started, we were supposed to be in the church for a programme that was to start at 5pm. I didn’t know what delayed me and my family members that we were not in church at that time.
“Today’s Sunday service was done inside the vicarage at the back of the church, and the storm affected the vicarage too but we managed the sitting room to do the service. I am appealing to the state government and well meaning individuals to help us to build a new church because a new foundation will be laid because everything collapsed.”
Mrs. Olusegun Modupe Florence, a victim and widow, whose bungalow was also affected by the storm, said: “I thank God for not allowing the storm to take my life and the lives of the members of my family. I am a widow and live with my children. I was outside the house that evening around 5pm washing clothes, it was not cloudy at all but when it started showering, my children and I entered the house. At exactly 5pm, I noticed that there was a heavy wind blowing amid the rain, and I started praying: ‘Lord, please, help me. Have mercy on me, this house must not collapse on me.’
“All this while, I was beside the window in the sitting room but the spirit of God told me to leave the sitting room and immediately I left the sitting room, the storm removed the rafters and roofs of the house causing the walls in that sitting room to fall to the ground and to my greatest surprise it was that very place where I was standing before.
“Aside from the roofs that were blown off, some of my belongings have also been damaged, including the television set, other electrical appliances as well as clothes, among other things.
“Since that day, my family members and I have been sleeping in a neighbour’s house. I appeal to Ekiti State government to assist me.”
On his part, an 84-year- old widower, Mr. Sanya Aregbe, said: “The rain started that evening and the heavy storm followed too. The storm was so heavy that the locked doors in the house were forced open. My only wife is late and yesterday (Saturday) marked the 30th day of her exit. My children, younger siblings and family members have since been staying with me so that I will not be the only one here.
“This house had five rooms and one sitting room. The rain was so much and the storm was very heavy that it removed the entire roof of my house. We looked up and saw the sky directly. I wept bitterly. Nobody could go out, we remained inside here in the rain. The television set here was destroyed by some planks that fell on it. My files containing my documents, I didn’t know the wind had carried them into the flood. It was the following morning I saw them, soaked and torn. My things have all been damaged and others soaked with water.
“Since the incident, I have been sleeping in my son’s place at night, a few miles away from here, and return here the following day to see if I can get assistance. Just like you have come now you are able to see me because I am here. I appeal to our Governor, Dr. John Kayode Fayemi, to please assist me, I am an aged widower. May God help him too.”
Recounting her ordeal, Mrs Modupe Agbetuyi, a victim and widow, said: “ The owner of this storey building (large house) is late and I am his daughter and a widow. On Thursday, March 31, between 4:30pm and 5pm, my children and I as well as some other members of the family were downstairs, and some were in the kitchen. While it was raining, there was also a whirlwind. I saw big trees in the other side of the house bowing and moving from side to side. I told my son that the storm was heavy and that we should start praying for calm. Few minutes later, I heard a sound at the back of the house, the storm had removed the roof of the storey building in the front (our apartment) and landed it on the bungalow at the backyard and also destroyed other roofs of other buildings here. We thank God nobody died and nobody was injured.
“So many of our belongings and that of other tenants have been destroyed. You can see that our soaked mattresses, furnitures, carpets, clothes and other things outside, we are drying them. Our television sets and other electrical appliances have been destroyed.
“My children, other members of the family and I now manage in one vacant room downstairs and the other tenants affected go elsewhere to sleep in the night and come back here in the morning. I appeal to the government of Ekiti State to please assist us.”
Commenting on the sad development, Hon. Ayeni Samuel, the councilor representing Orun -Ekiti Ward 10 in Ise/Orun local government area, said: “On Thursday, March 31, there was a great disaster in Ise/Orun local government area in two communities – Ise -Ekiti and Orun-Ekiti. This incident happened due to the heavy downpour and heavy wind which affected hundreds of buildings in Ise/Orun LGA, destroying properties worth millions of naira and rendering many residents homeless. We thank God there was no loss of life. A church building was totally pulled down, mosque, houses, shops and viewing centres were destroyed.
“Electric poles were also affected, resulting in blackout in the two communities that make up Ise/Orun LGA. We thank the officials of Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) that came the following morning to make sure they removed all the cables from the roads to avoid casualties.
“According to history, such incident was witnessed in 1986 and was not as bad as this.
“I appeal to Governor Fayemi to come to the aid of these victims.”
The chairman, Ekiti State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Capt. Sunday Adebomi (retd), who hails from Ise-Ekiti, said: “There was a rain storm on Thursday, March 31. About 5pm, we started receiving distress calls that the roofs of so many houses had been blown off by the heavy rain storm and it was quite unfortunate and we immediately deployed our teams from SEMA and the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) from Ado-Ekiti for on-the-spot-assessment of the situation and it was so pathetic.
“We visited the two kings in the communities, the Arinjale of Ise-Ekiti and Olowuro of Orun-Ekiti. According to the chiefs, for over 20 years, we have never experienced such calamity in Ise/Orun. It is so bad, we just tried to put up our reports and see how government is going to intervene in the lives of the people because it is very important and I am sure government will have sympathy and do something to help them.”