A surge from the Atlantic ocean, late Friday night has displaced over 2000 persons in Aiyetoro, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State.
Residents of the fishing comminity were said to be sleeping when they noticed water rushing into their homes. The people had to flee for safety.
Secretary of the Ayetoro Youths Congress, Emmanuel Aralu, said over 100 houses were submerged by the surge.
Aralu who attributed the surge to the failure of the state government and the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, to complete the shoreline protection contract awarded at a cost of N6.5 bn to Atlantic Dredgers Limited (DAL) in 2006.
He said the community has been battling ocean surge for the past 15 years.
Aralu said the company has no proper equipment to handle the shoreline protection project.
According to him, “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 not 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.”
