For the second time in about a year, Trademore Estate in the Lugbe area of Abuja has been overtaken by floodwaters. The recent flooding, which occurred on Monday morning, has prompted residents to call on the Federal Government for immediate help.
Videos and pictures shared online show the extent of the flooding, with residents expressing their distress and urgency. Last year, when a similar flood incident occurred, the government moved to demolish houses said to be in the waterway, but some residents resisted and staged protests.
The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Department (FEMD) has since conducted an assessment of the situation.
Mrs. Florence Wenegieme, the acting Director-General of FEMD, stated, “There was no distress call from the residents of Trademore Estate. It was a passerby that saw the flooding and called us, and there was no report of anybody missing.”
She added, “I am here with some members of the residents’ association, and none of them reported that somebody is missing, dead, or that somebody was drowned. If there is any, we have not received such a report.”
A security guard from Pento Security Guard, Mr. Eborn Sunday, confirmed that no lives were lost during the flood.
“I am not aware of anyone that was killed by the flash flood this morning. We were on duty when the rain started around 7 a.m. Suddenly we saw the water level rising, and we started securing our belongings. After that, we started helping people whose houses were being submerged to safety.”
The Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Department, alongside officials from the National Emergency Management Agency, Department of Development Control, Department of Engineering Services, and Fire Service, assessed the situation on the ground.
Mrs. Wenegieme explained to journalists that emergency officials were not initially supposed to be at the estate because it was declared a disaster zone in 2022 due to recurring flooding.
“The 2023 incident submerged almost all the houses in the estate. The residents had taken the FCT Administration to court over plans to demolish all houses built on waterways,” she said.
According to Wenegieme, about 116 houses were marked for demolition because they were built on waterways, but a court injunction obtained by the residents restrained the FCTA from removing these houses.
Wenegieme said, “The houses that were submerged by the flash flood were part of the 116 houses marked for demolition for sitting on a flood plain.”
Wenegieme advised the residents to move out of the area for their own safety.
“We have just discovered a school on the flood plain with students that could be up to 500, including their teachers, management, and other non-academic staff. Their lives are at stake. You all are not safe when there is flooding. If there is a heavy downpour again, you never can tell what will happen, and that is why we don’t want our children, the leaders of tomorrow, to remain here,” she emphasized.
She noted that the residents had mobilized their engineers to come up with a solution, but it apparently did not solve the problem.
“But a situation where houses are still sitting on waterways and they are refusing to move, tell me how we will be able to solve the problem?”
However, Mr. Inemesit Udofot, Chairman of Trademore Estate Residents Association, Phase II, disputed the claim that any houses were sitting on a flood plain. He argued that the recurrent flooding was caused by water being channeled into Trademore by adjoining estates.
“Demolition is not the way out,” he insisted.