Ocean surge sacks 200 households in Ondo

Forum 1 year ago

Ocean surge sacks 200 households in Ondo

No fewer than 200 households have been displaced in the coastal community of Ayetoro, in Ilaje Council Area of Ondo State, by ocean surge, wreaking havoc and destroying property worth millions of naira in the community.

Secretary of the Ayetoro Youths Congress, Emmanuel Aralu, said: “More than 200 homes were displaced during the latest surge displacing thousands of residents. 

“The surge had taken over more than half of the land of the community. The surge has become an annual occurrence which successive government had failed to attend to, saying hundreds of homes and properties including schools, and hospitals, business centers had been destroyed with several people displaced by the ocean surge. 

“The Sunday surge rendered many landlords homeless, while many of the residents of the community had relocated to the neighboring communities.” 

The ocean surge has been threatening of the existence of Ayetoro community and this had been happening for the past 20 years, the level of destruction cannot be qualified again. 

“From 2015 till date the community has lost over 10 kilometers of the landscape to the ravaging sea surge. This time around no fewer than 500 to 700 buildings has been destroyed or washed off with properties worth millions of naira washed away. 

“We have cried to the state and Federal government but all efforts to get government attention has proof abortive”

Aralu recalled that contractors had been mobilized to the site twice for the dredging of the ocean but said no work was done on the site, while government never bothered to query or probe those behind the contract while the residents are dying on yearly basis. 

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.

“We are calling on the government at all levels to please come to our aid. We want to appealed to all relevant agencies and authorities concerned to help save Aiyetoro community from going into extinction”