Emmanuel Ukudolo l Thursday, September 20, 2018
DENRO, Ogun, Nigeria – Residents of Denro, a neighbouring community on the outskirt of Ogun State but very close to Lagos State are back to their perennial nightmare – They have been cut off from civilisation, no thanks to massive body of water which has been attributed to influx from one of the damns operated by the Ogun River Basin Authority.
Unlike in previous experience the water is a little bit tolerable but not healthy to wade through on foot based on the massive refuse dump that surrounds the body of water. For days, residents of the area have been surviving based on ingenuity of individuals who have deployed all kinds of tactics to move traffic to and fro for a fee.
Among materials so far deployed are motorcycles condemned freezers, fridges and canoes which have been used as vehicles for ferrying residents to and fro until Monday morning when the local community constructed the makeshift paedestrian bridge. It is now the temporary solution for over 500,000 people resident in the area who have been abandoned by the Governor Ibikunle-Amosun-led government to their fate. Residents now pay N50 to pass through the bridge unlike the N200 they hitherto pay for motorbike, or other makeshift item including human volunteers who offer to back individuals across the murky water.
This has been the trend for years. We gathered that the Ogun State Government under the leadership of Otunba Gbenga Daniel did construct small bridge for residents to access Lagos but that it collasped shortly since it was made of inferior materials and since then, the community has been abandoned. “It is only when election is coming that they remember us not to do something but purely for campaign”, Samuel Bassey, who lives in the area told our correspondent.
He also condemned the decision of the Ogun State Government to build a massive bridge linking Yakoyo in Ojodu to Alagbole when the most suitable place for such a brige is the Denro axis which is constantly subjected to flood of massive proportion.
“Yakoko-Alagbole had a solid bridge built several years back that was serving that area but it was destroyed by Governor Ibikunle Amosun when he wanted to build the new bridge(still under construction) in a place that already has functional bridge that barely needed expansion”, he fumed.
For now, most of the residents of Denro park their vehicles at home, only waiting for the water to dry up perhaps, weeks from now, or even months. We gathered that those who cannot do without their cars have to go the long journey, pass through the terrible Ishasi road to link Akute to Iju or Alagbole.
We gathered that some residents have also relocated temporarily for ease of movement.Residents are calling on the Ogun State Government to as a matter of urgency come to their aid.
“We have made several representations to the Ogun State Government on the issues of flooding of that road leading to Denro”, a resident of the area told our correspondent. For, now, residents of Denro are praying to God, hoping that the Ogun State Government will one day be human enough to come to their aid and take away this perennial flood which has been a constant nightmare to residents of the area.
