An early Monday morning downpour led to severe flooding, submerging the popular Trademore Estate in the Lugbe area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Unconfirmed reports said that two people were swept away by the flood.
The estate’s gate area was particularly affected, with the prolonged rain rendering hundreds homeless and causing extensive property damage.
A video circulated on Monday morning, narrated by an unidentified woman, showed the estate nearly completely submerged, with some properties seen outside homes in the rain.
She said while screaming in the video: “This is Trademore Estate, federal government we are pleading, two persons just died now, the water took them away. Two persons swept away by this water, please we are begging. FCT minister come and do something, we are appealing.
“See the Police Station is gone. These are people’s residences, and water is everywhere. Minister of FCT, Honourable Wike, please come to Trademore Estate, people are dying. Two people just died this morning, what a pity.”
Recall that the flooding in the estate has been a perennial occurrence every rainy season, which made the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) promise to tackle it, but nothing has been done.
The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) had announced last year that it would demolish structures on waterways in the estate and other estates across the FCT, but residents of the affected areas vehemently opposed the decision of the government and went to challenge it in court.
In a statement signed by the FCDA executive director, Shehu Ahmed, he said the structures in communities such as Trademore Estate, disrupting the natural water flow, were responsible for flooding recorded in some parts of the city, despite the Administration marking many buildings in the estate, the occupants refused to vacate.
