"Are you related to Lai Mohammed?" Nigerians bashes man who claims his four car tyres damaged by Lekki flood cost almost N5m

If he just needed some attention, he sure got it!
See some of the replies after the cut.

Flood ‘chases’ corpses out of mortuary in Lagos

The management of a private mortuary, Toluwalase Hospital Morgue, located at Otunba Oladokun Street, in Igando area of Lagos State has ejected corpses deposited in the facility due to massive flooding of its premises.

This is coming on the heels of the ceaseless rainfall witnessed across Lagos metropolis last week, which led to flooding.

The flood has taken an immense toll on the facility, forcing its operation to stop.

According to the mortuary’s manager, Bolaji Oluwafemi, the area was flood prone and always quick to transform into a lake anytime it rained.

He added that the Lagos State Government had ignored repeated complaints from the hospital management and other residents living in the area.

“There is the lingering need for proper channelization of water and the sand filling of the low land in the area”, Oluwafemi further explained.

Due to the neglect by the government, the morgue manager said they, alongside other residents, hired a contractor to sand fill the lowland and divert the flood water to a nearby drainage, incurring N3 million as expenses for the job.

Oluwafemi, a retired Naval officer, said: “It has paralysed our business, everybody has moved of their houses to live in the available dry land outside of their premises.

“We have been living outside in our cars. Look, (pointing at cooking utensils) that is where we cook our food.

“The woman that sells food has vacated her flooded shop. All the tenants and landlords are out of their houses. On Monday, a woman was searching for her daughter in the flood while others hurried out of their houses.

“We are left with nothing!”

Oluwafemi and other residents seen with him pleaded with the state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to come to their rescue.

Lagos floods: State recommends relocation, high hygiene

The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, who spoke after inspecting areas affected by the flood in the State, allayed the fears of residents, assuring them that the Government has activated its emergency response system to respond efficiently where necessary.
The Lagos State Government on Sunday urged residents to remain calm and vigilant in the wake of the torrential rain experienced in the State in the last few days.
The Commissioner for the Environment, Dr. Babatunde Adejare, who spoke after inspecting areas affected by the flood in the State, allayed the fears of residents, assuring them that the Government has activated its emergency response system to respond efficiently where necessary.
Adejare said most of the flooding would recede after a period of time, attributing the cause to the high tide of the lagoon, slowing down the flow of rainfall water from drainage channels.
He said: We are on top of the situation. The Government is concerned by the recent occurrence of flooding in some parts of Victoria Island, Lekki, Oniru and its environs and our emergency lines 112 and 767 are open 24/7 for residents to report any emergency situation.”
The Commissioner, however, urged residents in the habit of dumping refuse indiscriminately, especially in drainage channels, to stop forthwith, saying engaging in such does not only portend health hazards, but could also lead to loss of lives and property.
He said dumping refuse in drainages meant to take flood water to the lagoon blocks such channels and as such had dire consequences that could lead to loss of lives and properties.
Adejare also expressed concerns that despite the vigorous campaign by the Government on the dangers of dumping refuse indiscriminately, some people still engage in such act.
He said: “The lagoon is swollen up, there is high tide, so it would lock on our outfalls, the water would not recede or go into the lagoon as fast as it used to be, so that’s one of the main reason why we are having flooding all over the place and coupled with our own man made problems such as people blocking the drainage channels, people even building on drainage channels, that’s what has also been causing all these problems.
“That is a criminal thing to do, it is not good, their actions can lead to loss of lives and definitely to damage of properties, so they should stop it because it would affect some people adversely.
“You do not need to dump refuse in drainages, eventually we would come to pick them up and with our improved services through the reforms that we are carrying out, there would not be anything like that, we would be evacuating solid waste faster than we have done.”
Adejare said the Government was concerned about the safety of residents, hence the continuous call on those living in flood-prone areas to relocate temporarily pending when the rain recedes.
He said: “Like we have been telling them, if the rain still persist, please don’t go out of your homes, except you are living by the coast or by the low line. If you are one of those, you have to move upland, move away from the coast until the rain recedes. But if you are living upland and it’s raining persistently and it’s not necessary or compulsory for you to go out, please stay indoors.
“If you also have contact with flood water, wash your hands always, whatever has been touched by the flood water should not be eaten, it’s important.”
The Commissioner also assured residents that the ongoing reforms in the environment sector through the Cleaner Lagos Initiative would evolve a viable solid waste management system which would make the State cleaner and healthy for residents.
Adejare said: “This is a transition period, most importantly it’s not that the reforms have taken so long, you need to plan very well so that you don’t plan to fail. We are making sure that when we start, we don’t hope to fail, we hope to give our people a world class service in solid waste management, that’s what we are planning for and we need to take our time to do that and give Lagosians good service. It would commence, it would succeed and it would give us a better way of managing our solid waste here.”
Adejare urged residents to continue to maintain a high level of cleanliness, especially in disposing their refuse, while assuring that the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration would not relent in its efforts until it achieves a cleaner Lagos.
He said: “I want to tell our people, no pain, no gain. To embark on any kind of reform is always very tedious, as a government the priority is to see these reforms through and to make our people live better. Our refuse should not be a disgrace to us, it should be a resource and that’s what we intend to pursue.”

NTA Network service centre shut over Victoria Island flood

NTA Network Station shut due to flooding. Photo:TheCable
The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) network centre on Ahmadu Bello way in Victoria Island, Lagos, has been shut owing to the flood which accrued from the rainfall of the early hours of Saturday.

Major streets in the neighbourhoods of Victoria Island (VI) and Lekki were overtaken by flowing waters.

This left many people trapped in their homes, while vehicles found it difficult to move.

When TheCable visited the VI office of the largest television network in Africa on Saturday evening, it noticed that there were no activities.

Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island blocked by the police due to flood
An official of the station, who spoke off the record, said the office would remain shut till Monday.

“Our office has been shut because of the flood. Although the water has gone down now, the management has decided that for safety reasons, activities should be suspended until Monday,” he said.

Residents Groan As Flood Wreaks Havoc In Lagos

It was weeping and groaning in some parts of Lagos, including Lekki, Ajah, Victoria Garden City, Victoria Island and Lagos Island as rampaging floods which sacked thousands of residents, destroying properties worth billions of naira following unending heavy frequent downpour.

The state had been witnessing torrential rains for almost the whole of last week which affected movements in the metropolis as well as paralyse social and economic activities.

The Lagos State government over the weekend called for caution among the residents, as the rain which also disrupted flight schedules of several airlines and paralysed weekend social activities, might continue for some time.

The flood, which took over people’s houses, invaded their living rooms, bedrooms and kitchen, even as the roads were rendered impassable, making vehicular movement impossible.

The flood locked down the areas due to the overnight torrential rains which started at roughly 11pm on Friday night and continued most part of Saturday. The rain, it would be recalled, had been falling in the past few days, but continued unabated on Saturday.

Investigations revealed that the flood was caused by lack of good drainages, even as a lot of house owners did not comply with town regulations. However, no lives were reportedly lost.

Independent learnt that from Lekki Phase 1, down to the Lekki Free Trade Zone, was partially submerged by flood, a situation which made people to be stranded, even as broken down vehicles were everywhere in the water.

Residents of Lekki Phase 1, Victoria Island in Lagos State were trapped in their homes as the flood could not allow them move out, thereby hindering weekend life, entertainment and shopping in the areas. Some who intended to travel out of the city for the weekend could not find their way out of their premises.

A commentator on social media, who identified himself just as #Abdulrahman, said: “I think Lagos should declare state of emergency on this flood…. This is not Lekki this is heart of VI. This place never witnessed such…”

Stories of the flooding filled the social media on Saturday, with Lagosians leaving within these areas uploading pictures and videos on the effect of flooding.

As a result of this, Lekki is the number one trend on Twitter presently. Also, Island, which stands for Lagos Island is also trending on the micro-blogging site.

A Twitter user by the name of Amechi Isiekwena took a shot of his living room submerged in water. He pleaded to the Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode to do something about the floods in Lagos.

The rains also disrupted many flights, particularly international flights that were diverted to neighbouring countries, as the entire tarmac of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport was flooded.

Some parents, who were at the airport on Saturday to receive their wards coming into the country, were disappointed as the Virgin Airline was diverted to Accra, Ghana, due to the flooding of the airport.

Independent gathered that when over 200 parents who were at the airport to receive their wards, leant that the airline had been diverted to Accra, became agitated, especially as the children were not allowed to step out of the plane because they do not have yellow cards and visa.

The situation was more worrisome as the plane could not fly to Lagos until 11 hours owing to the fact that time shift for the crew has expired.

Independent learnt that many parents who could not wait longer, started buying tickets to pick their children, who were forced to stay in their plane pending when it would be cleared to fly back to Lagos.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State government has called for caution by residents as the rain would likely continue for some time.

Speaking through a statement on the government’s official Facebook page, the state government said: “The Lagos State government has once again called on residents to observe extreme caution on the roads as torrential rain persists across the state.

“While assuring the general public of the heavy deployment of environmental sanitation officers and emergency rescue teams, especially in flood-prone areas of the state, the government urges residents to stay indoors, either at home or in their places of work, whenever there is heavy downpour, except when the need to commute becomes necessary.

“Warning that heavy downpour is expected for a few more weeks, the government solicits the support of citizens to desist from dumping refuse in the canals and gutters and observe safe and hygienic conducts at all times in order to reduce the effect of temporary flooding being recorded in some areas. The government also urges residents to make use of emergency numbers in case of dire situations.”

Dr. Samuel Adejare, the State Commissioner for the Environment, also in a release on Saturday, noted that the rainfall would disrupt normal activities and have untoward effects on landed properties, roads and environment.

He implored all Lagosians to, as much as possible, stay indoors during rainfall, except their movement is important to their safety and livelihood.

Adejare also advised residents who live in lowland areas, or those close to water bodies to move upland in the meantime to ensure the safety of their lives and properties.

“You are implored as much as possible to stay indoors unless it is essential to your safety and livelihood. However we strongly advise those who live in lowland and close to water bodies to move upland”, he said.

He added that officers from the ministry had been deployed to coastal areas and sites which are susceptible to flooding as part of efforts to protect the lives and properties of the citizenry.

While pledging the preparedness of the present administration to ensuring the well-being and comfort of all citizens, Adejare implored Lagosians to call the free toll lines of 112 or 767 for necessary assistance in case of emergency

"Your inferiority complex is showing" - OAP Gbemi scolds mainland residents mocking those living on the Island affected by floodwater

Gbemi Olateru-Olagbegi has come out to slam
mainland residents mocking people living on the
Island in Lagos that had to endure the serious
flooding caused by heavy rainfall today. The Beat
FM OAP advised those making jest to develop the
mainland, which also had flooded areas, before
making fun of people living on the Island for
convenience.