Scores stranded as ocean surge sacks Ondo community

No fewer than 2,000 residents of Aiyetoro in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State escaped being swept away by Atlantic Ocean surge at the wee hours of Saturday.

The people residing on the coastline of the state experienced terrible surge from the Atlantic ocean while they were asleep.

Someone in the community raised the alarm when she noticed that their homes already submerged and everyone started fleeing the community to take shelter in a safe location.

Some of the fleeing residents could not take any of their personal effects in fear of being overrun by the rising surge.

Emmanuel Aralu, Secretary of the Ayetoro Youths Congress, disclosed that more than 100 homes were submerged in the surge.

He blamed the state government and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) for the natural disaster due to what he described as their failure to complete the N6.5 billion shoreline protection contract awarded a company, Atlantic Dredgers Limited (DAL) in 2006.

Aralu noted that the company didn’t have the wherewithal to handle the project.

Explaining how the Saturday disaster occurred, he said: “The surge occurred in the middle of the night when many people had retired to bed and before we made moves to start packing, most of the houses had been submerged. We had to evacuate the people from their houses. (Independent)