Flood destroys 4 houses, church

Heavy rainfall at Eket in Akwa Ibom on Thursday destroyed four houses and a church.

The correspondent reports that the torrential rainfall lasted for 14 hours between 4a.m. and 6p.m. and also destroyed many shops.

Eket residents who spoke on Friday said the rain destroyed houses on seven streets in the town.

Mr Hezekiah Testimony, a resident, said the rain wreaked havoc and destroyed a church at Umana Ndon Street in Idung Afianwe.

Testimony expressed displeasure at the early rainfall in September saying it lasted for 15 hours and caused the flooding of Eket and its environs.

He called on the Eket Local Government Council boss to visit Afaha Eket to see how erosion had been pulling houses down.

“Let him come to Afaha Eket where erosion is pulling down houses as a result of construction of water channels in the area,’’ Testimony charged.

He advised Akwa Ibom State government to build a bigger drainage in Eket in order to empty water into channels.

Another resident, Mr Jimmy John, lamented that flooding left Eket is a sorry state every year.

John said that an intervention agency awarded a contract to open the waterways in Eket to an indigenous contractor, but the latter did a poor job.

“The waterways were opened, but risk assessment was not done. As we speak now, the intervention job has caused a lot of damage to houses in Mkpok, Umana Ndon, a church and some houses are almost collapsing.

“It wasn’t a good job they did; what we expected of the intervention agency, was to construct a standard drainage in which it should have casted the waterways and not using bulldozer to open up the waterways and leave it like that,’’ he said.

John advised people living along the waterways to remove their buildings, so the waterways would be open for free flow of water.

He noted that houses and properties worth millions of naira had been destroyed in Eket and called on the state government to build a drainage system to alleviate the sufferings of the people.

However, another resident, Mr Samuel Mbong, thanked the intervention agency for opening the waterways to allow free flow of storm water in Eket and its environs but also alleged poor work.

Mbong said that the job needed to be completed with embankment to secure houses besides the water channels.

“My shop is flooded. I have been battling to scoop water from my shop. My clothes, shoes and my property destroyed,’’ he said.

Mbong called on the town planning ministry and the state government to wake up to their responsibilities.

“Houses are built in waterways because the town planning ministry and the government are not doing the right thing.