Residents Flee, Others Rendered Homeless As Ocean Surge Sacks Residents

Speaking over the development, the Secretary of the Ayetoro  Youths Congress, Mr. Emmanuel Aralu declared that more than 100 homes were submerged in the surge of the Atlantic ocean.

Aralu bemoaned 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.

Aralu noted that the company didn’t have the wherewithal to handle the project.
Explaining how the Saturday disaster occurred, he said: “The surge occurred in the middle of the night when many people had retired to bed and before we made moves to start packing, most of the houses had been submerged. We had to evacuate the people from their houses.

“No life was lost but the economy of the community will never be the same again.
The Ondo State government should come to the aid of the community and its residents.

“We want to appeal to the state government and other relevant agencies to immediately come to our aid and give necessary assistance before the surge sacks the whole community.”

Aralu revealed that the natives had been facing the incessant ocean surge for the past 15 years.
The affected residents were said to be the people of Ayetoro in Ilaje Local Government Area of the State, and according to an eyewitness who is also one of the affected residents spoke on the condition of anonymity said that the people residing on the coastline of the state experienced terrible surge from the Atlantic ocean while they were asleep.
He said, Someone in the community suddenly raised the alarm when she noticed that their homes already submerged and everyone started fleeing the community to take shelter in a safe place.

He stressed that some of the affected residents hurriedly left their homes, and could not even take any of their personal belongings for the fear of being submerged by the rising surge of the Ocean.