Retired Rivers Civil Servants Trapped As Flood Ravages Igbo Etche Housing Estate

Thousands of retired civil servants and other Nigerians living at the Rivers state Housing Estate, Igbo Etche have been trapped by flood which ravaged the area.

Our correspondent who visited the estate reported that all business actions include schools have been suspended as people can neither come in nor go out from the estate.

Chairman of the Estate Landlord Association, Mr Oputuboye Braide, told The Tide that all activities were at standstill in the area as nobody comes in or go out.

According to Braide, the whole estate has been taken over by flood as children can no longer go to schools and workers go to work.

“We cannot access our buildings, our homes, cars, are inside trapped.”

He also raised the alarm over the presence of reptiles and other dangerous animals, stressing that the lives of residents of the area are presently in danger.

“Everywhere, you see reptiles coming out, attacking people. Some cars are even submerged inside water,” he said.

The chairman further said if nothing urgently is done about it, the estate may experience an epidemic as all the septic tanks have been burst, making the area unhealthy for human habitation.

He said the community needs canoes to ferry people out of the area.

Braide also stressed the need for the government to construct a drainage in the area, stressing that efforts have been made to reach out to the State Government, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ministry of Housing to no avail.

Also speaking, a retired staff of the Rivers state Newspaper Corporation, Pastor Soye Itiye, said the intervention of the government is urgently needed to avoid an epidemic.

Itiye said the flood has impacted negatively on the lives of the people, stressing that the health of residents of the area is at risk.

He also urged for a drainage to evacuate water out of the area.

** John Bibor **