The Ogun State Government has urged residents living in riverbank and wetland areas of Akute, Alagbole, Isheri, Magboro,Makogi, Orimerunmu, Iro, Kajola, Lafenwa, Enugada, Adedotun, Iberekodo, Akin-Olugbade, and Ago-Odo to prepare for overflow of Ogun River in the next two weeks, from the 20th of October and the 3rd of November.
In a flood alert released by the Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Ola Oresanya, the state government said the overflow from Ogun River would rise as a result of controlled release of water from Oyan Dam due to heavy rainfall from up-north.
Oresanya said ” This would increase the volume of water reaching the dam from that part of the country which would be compounded by increase in tidal level. The increase in the waterflow into the dam would inevitably forced the release of water from the dam that would affect the areas . I urge residents of the areas to exercise caution and avoid loss of lives and property within the period”
The commissioner emphasised the need for residents of the areas to avoid the riverbank while those in the wetlands should move to higher grounds or elevate their stay for now as the overflow becomes inevitable.
According to him, as part of the mitigating plans, the Ogun State Government had continuously dredged and opened up more tributaries for Ogun River to ease the pressure of the overflow on residents in collaboration with the Ogun Osun River Basin Authority -owners of Oyan Dam who have continually ensured a controlled release of water from the dam throughout the year.
The commissioner equally noted that at this period last year, the volume of water released from the dam was over 17,000 million litres per day as against over 12,000 million litres per day at this period despite the heavy rainfall signalling painstaking efforts at controlled release of water from the dam this year.
He therefore enjoined residents of the areas not to panic as the tide will go down in about ten days as the mitigating measures from the state government cannot stop the activities of nature as the impact of climate change is felt more by the state as one of the coastal states in Nigeria.
The Commissioner further revealed that the state is also a gateway or an outlet to empty the waterflow from Northern part of the country into the lagoon.
