Date: 2020-11-05

The collapsed drainage system has cut off Sawmill and Okoerin residents in llorin West Local Government Area of Kwara State from other communities in the state capital.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who visited the area on Wednesday reports that residents of the ever busy areas now find it difficult to access their residences due to the collapsed drainage.

Some residents of the community attributed the damage to floods from heavy rain falls and a water source from a substandard drainage system in the area.

Afusat Sulaiman, a resident, lamented that the bad state of the damaged bridge had brought untold hardship on the people.

She said several motorcycles and domestic animals had sunk in the drainage that had sacked several residents from their homes.

Mrs Sulaiman, who said the situation could worsen if nothing urgent was done to address it, noted that the situation had left many families in the area devastated.

Ebun lsiaka, the landlady of a storey building close to the collapsed drainage, told NAN that the damaged drainage had claimed the well which used to be the only source of potable water for several people in the area.

Mrs lsiaka appealed to the state government to come to the assistance of the residents to avoid a possible outbreak of cholera.

Also, lbrahim Oloyin, another affected landlord, lamented the hardship being caused by the damage, adding that many affected car owners now beg to park their vehicles in neighbouring houses close to the vicinity.

Also Speaking in similar vein, two affected residents, Rashidat Oludare and Toibu Sulaiman, said they now live in perpetual fear of their houses being washed away.

They both said the damaged portion of the road had continued to expand daily with nothing being done to ease the suffering of the residents, whose means of livelihood had been affected.

The residents appealed to Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq to come to their assistance to avoid complete loss of their residences and means of livelihood.

Rafiu Bolakale-Oloje, Chairman of the Kwara State Road Maintenance Agency (KWARMA), described the situation as an ecological disaster that can happen anytime and anywhere.

He said the agency was collaborating with the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to reconstruct the bridge and drainage system.

NAN reports that the collapsed drainage runs from the back of Sawmill Motor Park and terminates at Mustapha Sedan Street which links the newly reconstructed Okoerin Bridge. (NAN)